title: Mild course of mumps in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
abstract: Few details exist on the course of mumps during cytostatic treatment. We therefore describe our observations on the course of mumps seen between 1974 and 1988 in eight children suffering from acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL). Our data suggest that in malignant disease the course is rarely severe and that the infection often remains subclinical, as in healthy children. Mumps was accidentally diagnosed by routine lumbar puncture in four of the eight patients. Literature data suggest that the intrinsic low cytopathological effect of the virus, together with a parallelism between T cell response and clinical severity, may explain the usual mild course in immunodepressed patients, contrasting with the severe course of measles and Varicella zoster.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Paediatric Oncology, University Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: de Vaan
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D009107:Mumps / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000209:etiology; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents