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.