Impact of COVID-19 on the Children with Cancer in Six Pediatric Oncology Units (POUs) of Pakistan- A Multi-Center Study

Abstract

The study is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 in the Pediatric Oncology Units (POUs) of Pakistan. Data from 1 April 2019 to 30 June 2019 and 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020 for the first and second cohort, respectively, in order to compare the registration, abandonment rate, and delay in treatment. Six hundred and thirty-four were registered cases, 379 and 255 in the first and second cohort, respectively, which was significantly different <0.005. Seventy-seven were abandoned, 45 and 32 in the first and second cohort, respectively. Fifty-nine COVID-19 positive cases, 24, 4, 27, and 4 were admitted, referred, home isolated, and leave against medical advice (LAMA), respectively. Delayed treatment and reduction in new cases were observed.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2
• childhood cancer
• pandemics

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support of MCM by the Sanofi Espoir Foundation in various POUs in Pakistan. We also acknowledge all the patients and the healthcare professionals including our data operators Mrs. Yumna Syed, Mrs. Mehwish Waseem, Mr. Furqan Hussain, and Mr. Ali Jadoon for their immense contribution to conduct this study.

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Data availability statement

The research data are confidential.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a grant from MCM by the Sanofi Espoir Foundation.