Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Virol. Sep 25, 2022; 11(5): 321-330
Published online Sep 25, 2022. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v11.i5.321
Manifestations of COVID-19 infection in children with malignancy: A single-center experience in Jordan
Mousa Ahmad Qatawneh, Moath Altarawneh, Ruba Alhazaimeh, Mais Jazazi, Omaiema Jarrah, Alaa Shorman, Laila Alsadah, Maher Mustafa
Mousa Ahmad Qatawneh, Moath Altarawneh, Ruba Alhazaimeh, Mais Jazazi, Omaiema Jarrah, Maher Mustafa, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Unit, Queen Rania Children’s Hospital, Royal Medical Services, Amman 11183, Jordan
Alaa Shorman, Department of Neonatology, Queen Rania Children’s Hospital, Royal Medical Services, Amman 11183, Jordan
Laila Alsadah, Department of General Pediatrics, Queen Rania Children’s Hospital, Royal Medical Services, Amman 11183, Jordan
Author contributions: Qatawneh MA, Jazazi M, and Mutafa M substantially contributed to the conception and design of the work; Altarawneh M, Jazazi M, and Shorman A substantially contributed to the data collection; Alhazaimeh R, Shorman A, and Alsadah L substantially contributed to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the data; Qatawneh MA, Alhazaimeh R, and Jarrah O contributed to drafting or revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; Qatawneh MA, Altarawneh M, and Mustafa M gave final approval of the version to be published and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Institutional review board statement: This retrospective study was approved by the Ethical committee of the Jordanian Medical Services.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent forms were obtained from all the patients.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: The clinical data of this article are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mousa Ahmad Qatawneh, MD, Consultant Physician-Scientist, Staff Physician, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Unit, Queen Rania Children’s Hospital, Royal Medical Services, Dabouq, Amman 11183, Jordan. dr_m_qatawneh@yahoo.com
Received: February 19, 2022
Peer-review started: February 19, 2022
First decision: June 16, 2022
Revised: June 28, 2022
Accepted: September 2, 2022
Article in press: September 2, 2022
Published online: September 25, 2022
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been the cause of a global health crisis since the end of 2019. All countries are following the guidelines and recommendations released by the World Health Organization to decrease the spread of the disease. Children account for only 3%-5% of cases of COVID-19. Few data are available regarding the clinical course, the severity of the disease, and mode of treatment in children with malignancy and COVID-19.

Research motivation

COVID-19 has caused a global crisis worldwide, with few data available on this new health crisis. Patients with comorbidities are more susceptible to COVID-19 complications, especially oncology patients who are receiving different modalities of treatment making them immunocompromised most of the time. We would like to share our experience in these patients to compare it with the published data worldwide.

Research objectives

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the outcome of oncology patients who contracted COVID-19, compare it with the results of the healthy population in the same age group, and compare the outcomes among different malignancy groups. Also we compared our patients’ outcome with the international data published worldwide to share our experience and try to improve our management plan for these patients to provide the best care for them during this health crisis.

Research methods

A retrospective review of the medical files of patients who have malignancy and developed COVID-19 between July 2020 and June 2021 was performed. The following data were reviewed for all patients: primary disease, laboratory data, admission ward, clinical status upon admission, disease course, treatment plan, and outcome. Eligible patients were patients who had malignancy and tested positive for COVID-19 by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.

Research results

A total of 40 patients with malignancy who contracted COVID-19 from July 1, 2020 to June 1, 2021. Their primary diseases were as follows: 34 patients (85%) had hematological malignancies (30 of them had acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 2 had acute myeloblastic leukemia, and 2 had Hodgkin lymphoma), whereas 6 (15%) had solid tumors (2 had neuroblastoma, 2 had rhabdomyosarcoma, and 2 had central nervous system tumors). Twelve patients (30%) did not need hospitalization and underwent home isolation only, whereas 28 patients (70%) required hospitalization (26 patients were admitted in the COVID-19 ward and 2 patients were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit).

Research conclusions

Children with malignancy who contracted COVID-19 have a benign course and do not have increased risk of severe infection compared to healthy children.

Research perspectives

The findings of this study will help us share our experience worldwide and give an idea of what is occurring in developing countries during this health crisis, especially in oncology patients who need special care.