Pediatric cancer patients were more likely to be hospitalized with severe infections and die than other children, according to the registry findings published in The Lancet Oncology.
These consequences were particularly pronounced in low- and middle-income nations, where the risk of developing severe or critical disease from COVID-19 was about sixfold that in high-income countries.
This is the first worldwide study to describe the results of a large cohort of children and adolescents diagnosed with COVID-19 following cancer or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The registration is still accepting children under the age of 19 years.
Between April 15, 2020, and February 1, 2021, the analysis examined 1,500 kids below 19 at 131 hospitals in 45 countries. This is before immunizations became available to older children in some parts of the world, and before the discovery of particular disease variant, including delta, which is causing the new rise and has become a significant global worry.
According to the study, 65 percent of patients required hospitalization and 17 percent required admission or transfer to a higher level of care. Additionally, it revealed that 4 percent of kids died as a result of COVID-19 infections, compared to 0.01-0.7 percent mortality recorded in normal paediatric patients. Cancer treatment was also impacted. 56 percent of patients had their cancer treatment adjusted, and 45 percent had chemotherapy postponed while their infections were treated.
The registry identifies biological characteristics that are expected to influence how children with cancer respond to COVID-19. Immune system function and the underlying disease are examples of them. Analysis also revealed that outcomes differed across the globe, despite the fact that the registry does not identify reasons. This variance could be attributable to a variety of variables, such as pandemic interruptions, access to care and resources, or illness diagnostic delays.
The registry’s findings represent a call to action to overcome discrepancies in access to protective and effective treatment measures against the COVID-19 pandemic around the world.
The registry (http://covid19childhoodcancer.org/) is still accepting patients and expanding to other nations. It offers freely available data visualization tools, allowing anybody, anywhere to access the data.
COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective in preventing severe forms of the disease, allowing patients to avoid hospitalizations and the need for mechanical breathing.
Vaccines are available and encouraged in the United States for children aged 12 and up. Vaccination is one method of protecting not only yourself but also your community, particularly those at high risk of serious disease, such as children with cancer.
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