ABSTRACT
Background: Major bulk of treatment-related morbidity and mortality in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is attributed to infection. The study aimed to analyze the infection profile in children with ALL during maintenance chemotherapy. Method(s): In this 18-month prospective study, clinical and laboratory data of infection profile were collected and analyzed in children with ALL undergoing maintenance chemotherapy at M R Khan Shishu Hospital and Institute of child health, Dhaka, Bangladesh in collaboration with TATA Medical Center, Kolkata, India. Result(s): Of the 42 children, the male to female ratio was 1:1 with the median age of 7.8 years (IQR 4-12.8). Among them, 81% (n=34) had precursor B-ALL and 72% (n=28) had high-risk (HR) disease. Twenty-eight patients (67%) developed infection for a total of 72 episodes and febrile neutropenia (25%) was most common. Major site of infection was lung;21% had upper respiratory tract infection and 8% had radiologically proven pneumonia. Other episodes of infection commonly seen were fever without neutropenia (19%), COVID-19 infection (7%), diarrhoea (4%). Blood culture was positive in only three (4%) infective episodes. Two-third episodes (65%) required hospital admission with no PICU support and infection related mortality. No significant association was found in terms of age, sex, type of ALL, NCI- Risk and type of maintenance therapy with development of infections. Conclusion(s): Although maintenance therapy is considered mild, a significant proportion of children with ALL in maintenance therapy had infective episodes and two-third of them requiring hospital admission. However, no significant association was seen in terms of age, sex, type of ALL, NCI Risk and type of maintenance therapy and infection occurrence. Copyright © 2022
ABSTRACT
Recently, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought the whole world into a pandemic condition, where the number of infected cases and deaths is exponentially high. A number of vaccines are available for this novel virus, but these are in the preliminary stage and are also not available to everyone. As the virus is very contagious, protection and prevention are the best way to survive and get rid of this disease. The virus affects the human body by entering through the nose, mouth, and eyes, so face protection with an appropriate mask is highly advisable. Combined masks made with activated carbon (AC) can effectively adsorb the virus because of its high surface area and broad functional groups. Such combined masks can also control coronavirus transmission by capturing harmful gases and smoke as they help in decreasing the spread of the virus.