Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 infection status of hospitalized children was surveyed in the department of pediatric hematology and oncology in three different hospitals of epidemic areas in Hubei, China. A cross-sectional study was performed to investigate the clinical characteristics, lung CT scan, SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test and serum antibodies of hospitalized children with hemato-oncological diseases from January 23 to April 24, 2020. 299 children were enrolled in this study, including 176 males (58.9%) and 123 females (41.1%), aged from 2 months to 16 years. 255 cases (85.3%) received chemotherapy or other immunosuppressive therapies, and there were 44 cases (14.7%) of other benign diseases. Nucleic acid test was performed on 258 children (86.3%) and one case was positive. 163 cases (54.5%) were tested for serum antibodies, and all of them were negative. Lung CT scan was performed on 247 children (82.6%), and 107 of them showed infectious changes. Only one case (0.33%) of COVID-19 was diagnosed in the group. The prevalence rate of COVID-19 in enrolled children with hemato-oncological diseases in Hubei was 0.33%. Immunosuppressed patients are not prone to produce related antibodies. Comprehensive protective measures and ward management can reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the group patients.
Key words: children, COVID-19, hemato-oncological diseases, SARS-CoV-2
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Footnotes
This project was supported by Huazhong University of Science and Technology Emergency Technology Research Project Response to COVID-19 (No.2020kfyXGYJ020) and Clinical Study of the Pediatric Patients with 2019-nCOV (No. XXGZBDYJ005).
The authors contributed equally to this work.
Contributor Information
Song-mi Wang, Email: songmi201275955@126.com.
Fang Tao, Email: 2453037665@qq.com.
Yan Hou, Email: julishi@163.com.
Qun Hu, Email: qunhu2013@163.com.
Ai-guo Liu, Email: drliuaiguo@163.com.
References
- 1.Huang C, Wang Y, Li X, et al. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):497–506. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30183-5. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Liang W, Guan W, Chen R, et al. Cancer patients in SARS-CoV-2 infection: a nationwide analysis in China. Lancet Oncol. 2020;21(3):335–337. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30096-6. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Zhang L, Zhu F, Xie L, et al. Clinical characteristics of COVID-19-infected cancer patients: a retrospective case study in three hospitals within Wuhan, China. Ann Oncol. 2020;31(7):894–901. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2020.03.296. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Epidemiology Working Group for NCIP Epidemic Response The epidemiological characteristics of an outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) in China. Chin J Epidemiol (Chinese) 2020;41(2):145–151. [Google Scholar]
- 5.CDC COVID-19 Response Team Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Children — United States, February 12–April 2, 2020. NMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(14):422–426. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6914e4. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6.Dong Y, Mo X, Hu Y, et al. Epidemiological characteristics of 2143 pediatric patients with 2019 coronavirus disease in China. Pediatrics, 2020. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-0702
- 7.Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, et al. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(8):727–733. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001017. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 8.Shen K, Yang Y. Diagnosis and treatment of 2019 novel coronavirus infection in children: a pressing issue. World J Pediatr. 2020;16(3):219–221. doi: 10.1007/s12519-020-00344-6. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 9.Ogimi C, Englund JA, Bradford MC, et al. Characteristics and outcomes of coronavirus infection in children: the role of viral factors and an immunocompromised state. J Pediatric Infect Dis, Soc. 2019;8(1):21–28. doi: 10.1093/jpids/pix093. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 10.Zhao W, Zhong Z, Xie XZ, et al. Relation Between Chest CT Findings and Clinical Conditions of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pneumonia: A Multicenter Study. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2020;214(5):1072–1077. doi: 10.2214/AJR.20.22976. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 11.Sue C, Kaste DO. Infection Imaging of Children and Adolescents Undergoing Cancer Therapy: A Review of Modalities and an Organ System Approach. Semin Pediatr Infect Dis. 2000;11(2):122–141. doi: 10.1053/pi.2000.4662. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- 12.Xu Y, Li XF, Zhu B. Characteristics of pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection and potential evidence for persistent fecal viral shedding. Nat Med. 2020;26(4):502–505. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-0817-4. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]