New coronavirus infection in a child at the age of 2 years 4 months with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (fatal case)

Abstract

Children get sick less often than adults with a new coronavirus infection (in the Russian Federation, they account for 7.6% of registered cases of COVID-19), with less severe clinical symptoms, they require hospitalization less often, their disease is milder. The frequency of severe and extremely severe cases of COVID-19 in children does not exceed 1%. A clinical case of the course of COVID-19 in a child aged 2 years 4 months is presented. with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A feature of the presented case is the development of an extremely severe new coronavirus infection in a child with secondary immunodeficiency caused by a long-term course of malignant, treatment-resistant of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Slow, within 3 months, the development of the infectious process with long-term preservation of normal indicators of the function of the respiratory system led to the formation of viral-bacterial pneumonia with the development of respiratory distress syndrome. Despite the modern complex of therapeutic measures, severe comorbidity led to the development of DIC and multiple organ failure, which was the direct cause of the childs death. A possible therapy strategy is discussed in a patient with severe comorbidity against the background of secondary immunodeficiency and long-term persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in the presence of IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in the blood. For the first time, data on morphological changes in the lungs with a long course of COVID-19 (more than 100 days) in a young child are presented.