Omicron variant of SARS‐CoV‐2, an epidemiologic assessment of pediatric oncology patients in the Bronx

BACKGROUND: Children receiving cytotoxic therapy for cancer have increased risk of infection due to drug‐induced neutropenia and are therefore treated empirically for bacteremia when febrile or ill‐appearing. However, viral infections, which are not frequently life‐threatening, are the most common etiology of febrile episodes and there has been increased effort to differentiate patients who may have a higher risk for adverse outcomes. CASE: We performed a retrospective chart review of pediatric oncology patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 between December 20, 2021 and February 22, 2022 during the Omicron (B.1.1.529) surge at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, a tertiary care center in the Bronx. CONCLUSION: We found that no patients in our cohort developed respiratory distress, bacteremia, or serious illness after COVID‐19 infection during the Omicron surge. Future studies will aid in understanding the relationship between community‐acquired infections and bacteremia, and this knowledge can then be applied to develop optimal infection prevention clinical care guidelines.