Retrospective review of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 infection in children with acute leukemia from a tertiary care hospital in Northern India

The present retrospective study assessed the demographic and clinical characteristics and outcomes of children admitted with acute leukemia at our tertiary care referral center in Northern India with COVID-19 infection. Children who quickly progressed to acute respiratory distress syndrome or respiratory failure and had life-threatening organ dysfunction including shock, encephalopathy, myocardial injury or heart failure, coagulation dysfunction, and acute kidney injury were classified as having a critical illness. Out of 52 children admitted to the COVID-19 pediatric intensive care unit during the study period, 19 were on follow-up for acute leukemia: 12 with B-cell ALL, 5 with T-cell ALL, and 2 with acute myeloid leukemia.