Increased risk for invasive pneumococcal diseases in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Authors: Meisel, Roland¹; Toschke, André Michael²; Heiligensetzer, Cora²; Dilloo, Dagmar¹; Laws, Hans-Jürgen¹; von Kries, Rüdiger²

Source: British Journal of Haematology, Volume 137, Number 5, June 2007 , pp. 457-460(4)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

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Abstract:

Summary

Asplenia and other conditions of immunodeficiency are established risk factors for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). There are no current data available on the risk of IPD in children with acute lymphoblatic leukaemia (ALL), the most common type of childhood malignancy. This study combined data from a nation-wide surveillance for IPD and the German childhood cancer registry, and showed that children with ALL carry a more than 10-fold higher risk for IPD than the general paediatric population. As a substantial proportion of IPD occurs during maintenance chemotherapy, children with ALL may represent candidates for the evaluation of prophylactic interventions including vaccination.

Keywords: invasive pneumococcal disease; children; acute lymphoblastic leukaemia; epidemiology; prophylaxis

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2141.2007.06601.x

Affiliations: 1: Clinic for Paediatric Oncology, Haematology and Clinical Immunology, University Clinic of Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf 2: Division of Paediatric Epidemiology, Institute of Social Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

Publication date: 2007-06-01