INTRODUCTION
Previous studies have shown that pediatric patients with cancer and
SARS-CoV-2 infection generally have a mild course but with a mortality
rate of 3.8%, higher than in the general pediatric population according
to previously reports(1–4). This severity is higher in allogeneic
hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) recipients,
registering a mortality of 5-6% (5–8).
A recent meta-analysis has shown that the severity and mortality of
COVID-19 in this population is higher in low-middle income countries,
suggesting that the inclusion of countries with different health
resources may influence the analysis of the severity of COVID-19 (2,9).
The comparison of the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 between
pediatric patients with cancer or HSCT and children without
comorbidities has been made from registries and publications that did
not include both populations, making it difficult to thoroughly analyze
it (7).
The registration and analysis of a population attended with the same
health resources and including the same variables in the pediatric
population without comorbidities and with cancer could help to define
more accurately the clinical characteristics and outcome differences of
this infection between both populations and guide its management in
pediatric oncology units. Therefore, in November 2020, a specific form
designed by the Spanish Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology
(SEHOP) for pediatric patients managed in oncological units (with cancer
or alloHSCT) was added to the Spanish general registry of COVID-19 in
children (EPICO-AEP). The aim of this study was to keep treating
physicians updated on the course and management of COVID-19 in children
with cancer in Spain, during the early phases of the pandemic when there
was no literature on this subject. For this purpose, internal analyses
were presented during the national SEHOP congresses in 2021(10) and
2022(11). Here, we analyze these harmonized data.