No abstract

Objective. Determine the proportion of vaccinated patients in a private hematology and internal medicine outpatient clinic and potential factors in adherence in at-risk patients (due to onco-hematological diseases). Materials and methods. This is a cross-sectional study of outpatients from a private clinic. We applied a non-validated instrument to all patients attending the outpatient clinic from May to October 2021. According to the primary diagnosis, we classified patients into onco-hematological and non-onco-hematological patients. Since national authorities exclusively executed and planned the rollout of vaccines, the order and eligibility defined by authorities of vaccination was considered when conducting the analysis and patients were classified according to the their corresponding group. Results. 397 participants were accrued, 269 (68%) had an onco-hematological condition. In the whole group, 73 (18.3%) had a history of infection. Vaccination history was present in 286 persons (72%); 82% had two doses. In the subset of 269 persons with an onco-hematological condition, 191 (71%) were vaccinated, whereas 95 participants with non-hematological conditions (73%) had received the vaccine. Vaccination status was associated with age (OR 1.07, 95%CI: 1.03,1.10, p<0.0001) and body mass index (OR 1.11, 95%CI: 1.04,1.17, p<0.0001). Conclusions. According to our study, vaccination adherence at our center is significantly different from the nationwide proportion of vaccines.

The therapy of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in limited resource geospaces is challenging and must balance safety, efficacy, availability, and affordability. We modified the control arm of the St. Jude Total XI protocol for outpatient delivery including once-weekly daunorubicin and vincristine in initial therapy, postponing intrathecal chemotherapy until day 22, prophylactic oral antibiotics/antimycotics, use of generic drugs, and no central nervous system (CNS) radiation. Data were interrogated from 104 consecutive children ≤12 years (median, 6 years [interquartile range (IQR), 3, 9 years]. All therapies were given in an outpatient setting in 72 children. Median follow-up is 56 months (IQR 20, 126 months). A total of 88 children achieved a hematological complete remission. Median event-free survival (EFS) is 87 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 39, 60], 7.6 years in low-risk children (3.4, 8 years) whereas 2.5 years (1, 10 years) in high-risk children. The 5-year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) is 28% (18, 35%), 26% (14, 37%) in low-risk children and 35% (14, 52%) in high-risk children. Median survival for all subjects is not reached but must exceed 5 years. A total of 36 children relapsed at a median of 12 months (5, 23 months). Outcomes were comparable to those reported in the control arm of the Total Therapy XI study, but inferior to current treatment protocols in high-income countries. The average cost of the first 2 years of therapy was $28,500 USD compared with an average cost of approximately $150,000 USD in the US, an 80% saving. In conclusion, using an outpatient-based modification of the St. Jude Total XI protocol, we obtained good results with relatively few hospitalizations or adverse events and at a substantial saving. This model can be applied in other resource-poor geospaces.