Outbreak of COVID-19 among children and young adults in a cancer centre daycare unit.
Ki-Wook YunYe Kyung KimEun Sun SongHong Yul AnKyung Taek HongJung Yoon ChoiHyoung Jin KangSeung Min ChungIn Kyung ParkHyo Yeon LeeNam Joong KimEun Hwa ChoiPublished in: Epidemiology and infection (2022)
Nosocomial transmission of COVID-19 among immunocompromised hosts can have a serious impact on COVID-19 severity, underlying disease progression and SARS-CoV-2 transmission to other patients and healthcare workers within hospitals. We experienced a nosocomial outbreak of COVID-19 in the setting of a daycare unit for paediatric and young adult cancer patients. Between 9 and 18 November 2020, 473 individuals (181 patients, 247 caregivers/siblings and 45 staff members) were exposed to the index case, who was a nursing staff. Among them, three patients and four caregivers were infected. Two 5-year-old cancer patients with COVID-19 were not severely ill, but a 25-year-old cancer patient showed prolonged shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA for at least 12 weeks, which probably infected his mother at home approximately 7-8 weeks after the initial diagnosis. Except for this case, no secondary transmission was observed from the confirmed cases in either the hospital or the community. To conclude, in the day care setting of immunocompromised children and young adults, the rate of in-hospital transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was 1.6% when applying the stringent policy of infection prevention and control, including universal mask application and rapid and extensive contact investigation. Severely immunocompromised children/young adults with COVID-19 would have to be carefully managed after the mandatory isolation period while keeping the possibility of prolonged shedding of live virus in mind.
Keyphrases
- sars cov
- young adults
- coronavirus disease
- healthcare
- end stage renal disease
- respiratory syndrome coronavirus
- newly diagnosed
- ejection fraction
- chronic kidney disease
- papillary thyroid
- mental health
- peritoneal dialysis
- palliative care
- public health
- squamous cell carcinoma
- escherichia coli
- staphylococcus aureus
- chronic pain
- drug resistant
- lymph node metastasis
- methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus