Childhood acute leukemia and intestinal parasitosis.
Infectious complications are the leading cause of mortality in children with acute leukemia. Despite the fact that intestinal parasitosis is a rather frequent finding and a health problem in underdeveloped countries, in our experience the incidence of helminthic and protozoan infections among children with leukemia is uncommon. We analyzed 54 consecutive patients with leukemia in a period of 5 years, and only seven (12.9%) had intestinal parasites, four of whom died because of the infection or complication by the parasites. One hundred children without any malignancy were the control group, 26 (26%) of whom had intestinal parasitosis. When we compared the frequency of parasitosis in the control group with the children with leukemia and parasitosis, we found a statistical difference (p less than 0.05). We speculate that parasitic infections may reduce the risk of childhood leukemia.
Rivera-Luna
R
R
Department of Pediatric Oncology, National Institute of Pediatrics, Mexico City.
Cárdenas-Cardos
R
R
Martínez-Guerra
G
G
Ayón
A
A
Leal
C
C
Rivera-Ortegón
F
F
D000208:Acute Disease; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000150:complications*; D007938:Leukemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male