The main malignant neoplasm that affects children and adolescents is leukemia, in particular acute leukemias. The clonal hyperproliferation of hematopoietic precursors combined with antineoplastic therapy leads to a variable degree of immunological involvement with a consequent increase in susceptibility to opportunistic infections. The objective of this work was to describe the frequency of leukemia and the major opportunistic infections in children and adolescents in the region of Passo Fundo, Brazil. In this retrospective cohort study, of cases from January 2000 to December 2007, 92 patients aged between 8 months to 17 years were reviewed. Seventy-two cases of ALL, 18 of AML and 2 of LMC (78.2%, 19.6% and 2.2%, respectively) were found. The commonest infectious disease was pneumonia, followed by septicemia (the leading cause of death). Bacteria, accounting for 52.4% of infections, were the most frequent microorganisms isolated with parasitic, viral and fungal diseases accounting for 20.6%, 19.0% and 7.9% of infections, respectively. The results of this study confirm that opportunistic diseases are the main complications of leukemia and increase the morbid-mortality of these patients.
Leukemia; immunosupression; opportunistic diseases; children
