Comparative study of eosinophil count and mortality outcome in children with COVID-19 infection and malignancy

Abstract

Background. Low eosinophile count is associated with higher mortality outcome in COVID-19 patients. Malignancy comorbidity is also associated with higher mortality. While the role of eosinophils in this case remains unclear, it is interesting to study them in COVID-19 with comorbid malignancy. This research analyzes the difference between eosinophils and mortality outcome in children with COVID-19 infection and comorbid malignancy. Materials and methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study using medical record data on all paediatric patients aged 1 month to 18 years who had confirmed COVID-19 infections and were hospitalized from January to December 2021. The study cannot include patients for whom complete blood data is not available. Results. We obtained a total of 152 medical records of patients confirmed to have COVID-19. Eighty-eight patients were male, 63 patients had comorbid malignancies (41.4%), and 17 patients died (11.2 %). The most common complications found were acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (19.1 %) and carcinomas (17 %). The percentage and absolute eosinophils significantly influenced the patient’s outcome. We then distinguished between blood malignancy and carcinoma. There were significant differences between eosinophil count in patients with comorbid carcinoma regarding survival and death outcomes. Conclusions. The percentage and the absolute number of eosinophils have a difference in the outcome of life or death in children with COVID-19 infection and malignancies.