Low numbers of COVID-19 in Swedish pediatric oncology patients during the first pandemic year despite an open society.
Pediatr Blood Cancer
; 69(10): e29750, 2022 10.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35484955
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Sweden adopted a different strategy than many other countries to combat the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and kept most schools open. Initial reports from China suggested that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was milder in children compared to adults, but there was a lack of data from immunocompromised children. Therefore, we investigated the rate of verified SARS-CoV-2 infections in our Swedish pediatric oncology patients. PROCEDURE This was a multicenter retrospective study. A questionnaire including patient data as well as SARS-CoV-2 data was sent to the six Swedish childhood cancer centers in May 2021.RESULTS:
During the first pandemic year, 49 patients were identified as SARS-CoV-2 positive, and 22 (45%) children were hospitalized with COVID-19. Two children needed intensive care, but no COVID-19-related deaths were reported. Most patients (n = 36, 73%) were on active chemotherapy treatment and 23 children (49%) attended school or daycare at least part-time. Half of the SARS-CoV-2-positive patients experienced a delay in cancer treatment.CONCLUSIONS:
Despite the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Sweden, without a strict lockdown of the society, the number of nationally reported pediatric oncology patients with polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-verified infection was low, and the majority of children had mild disease. Our data show that treatment interruptions occurred frequently and this should clearly be avoided for the coming years.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
COVID-19
/
Neoplasias
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Child
/
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Pediatr Blood Cancer
Assunto da revista:
HEMATOLOGIA
/
NEOPLASIAS
/
PEDIATRIA
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Suécia