COVID‐19 Reinfection in Children With Cancer: Clinical Course and Risk Factors
While children with cancer are at risk of severe COVID-19, little is known about reinfection. Among infections (n = 2075) in children (≤ 21 years old, median age = 10 years old) receiving cancer-directed therapy and reported to the Pediatric Oncology COVID-19 case report, reinfection represented 6%. Children with subsequent infections did not have lower odds of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, or changes to cancer-directed therapy. Odds of reinfection were higher among children with hematologic malignancies but did not vary with sociodemographics, disease status, comorbidities, or vaccination status. The disease course for reinfected children was not less severe than the first infection, emphasizing the importance of preventing reinfection.
Authors
- Joshua Richman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6166-7488)
- Jennifer Levine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1417-0169)
- Ravi Bhatia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5740-2316)
- Isaac Martinez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9031-5644)
- Julienne Brackett (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6782-1044)
- Emily E. Johnston (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9126-2169)
- Julie Wolfson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3711-2239)
- Chen Dai
- Pietro Miozzo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3486-4061)
- Elizabeth Davis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6480-2083)
- Carla Schwalm
- Catriona Mowbray (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2703-7367)
- Josephine H. HaDuong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9135-7739)
- David S. Dickens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8821-6022)
- Alissa R. Kahn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2248-8505)
- Archana Sharma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3098-6432)
- Jeremy Z. Fields
Institutions
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- University of Iowa (US)
- Boston Medical Center (US)
- Boston Children's Hospital (US)
- Children's Hospital of Orange County (US)
- Bronson Methodist Hospital (US)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
- Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders (US)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
- St. Joseph’s University Medical Center (US)
- Texas Children's Hospital (US)
- Saint Joseph's University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Pediatric Blood & Cancer
- Published
- 2025-11-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/pbc.32126
- Primary Topic
- COVID-19 and healthcare impacts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Concern Foundation
- University of Minnesota
- State University of New York
- Cleveland Clinic
- University of Washington
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- SUNY Downstate Medical Center