Human coronavirus OC43 pneumonia in a pediatric cancer patient with down syndrome and acute lymphoblastic leukemia

J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2007 Jun;29(6):432-4. doi: 10.1097/MPH.0b013e31806451c1.

Abstract

In this report, we describe a case of pneumonia due to an infection with human coronaviruses (HCoVs)-OC43 in a pediatric leukemia patient with Down syndrome and febrile neutropenia. Not only the recently discovered HCoVs NL63 or HKU1 but also the prototype strains HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-229E have to be considered as respiratory pathogens in immunocompromised pediatric cancer patients. The routine utilization of polymerase chain reaction-based diagnostic tools would certainly elucidate the etiology of a relevant proportion of "pneumonias of unknown origin" in immunocompromised pediatric patients and would contribute to a better understanding of the role of HCoVs in this setting.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Base Sequence
  • Child, Preschool
  • Coronavirus Infections / complications*
  • Coronavirus OC43, Human*
  • DNA, Viral / genetics
  • Down Syndrome / diagnosis*
  • Humans
  • Immunocompromised Host
  • Male
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / complications*
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Substances

  • DNA, Viral