Sema BÜYÜKKAPU-BAY, Rejin KEBUDİ, Ömer GÖRGÜN, Sevim MEŞE, Bülent ZÜLFİKAR, Selim BADUR

Respiratory viral infection’s frequency and clinical outcome in symptomatic children with cancer: A single center experience from a middle-income country

In developing countries, acute respiratory tract infections are a significantcause of morbidity and mortality in children, particularly in pediatric cancerpatients. A majority of these illnesses are precipitated by viral infections. Inour country, studies were conducted on the single respiratory viral infectionin a pediatric hematology-oncology unit; however, the analysis of respiratoryviral infections in children with cancer is lacking. The present study aimed toprovide analysis of multiple respiratory viral infections and clinical outcomein children with cancer who receive chemotherapy and show signs andsymptoms of respiratory tract infections. During January, 2014 and January,2015 children with cancer under treatment who presented with respiratorytract infections were assessed for viruses by using multiplex real-time reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). Specimens were collectedby nasal swabbing at in-patient and out-patient clinics. Overall, 72 samplesof respiratory tract infection episodes, collected from children with cancerwere evaluated with the simultaneous detection of 20 respiratory viruses.A respiratory viral pathogen was obtained in 56.9% samples. Rhinovirus(24.3%) and co-infection with two viruses (19.5%) were the most frequentlyisolated pathogens. There were four (9.6%) samples of severe pneumonia.Patients with febrile neutropenic episodes and pneumonia were hospitalizedand treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics. Other non-neutropenic and mildrespiratory tract infections were treated with supportive care as outpatientprocedures. There were no deaths. Because there are no effective antiviralagents for certain respiratory viruses, infection control and early diagnosis arecrucial in preventing the spread of infection. Clinical findings and serologicalresults of viral respiratory tract infections help us to accurately determinethe treatment approach and avoid the unnecessary use of antibiotics.

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