In late 2019 the coronavirus disease - 2019 (COVID - 19) pandemic caused by SARS Coronavirus 2 (SARS - CoV - 2) started in Wuhan, China. Life has changed radically since then. Data emerging from the first hit countries show a tendency for a complicated course and higher mortality in some subgroups of infected patients. Cancer patients are immunosuppressed from their disease and the therapy they receive. Hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients are a subgroup of patients that are severely immunocompromised and may be at an even higher risk of a complicated course during this infection. Reports describing the course of these patients with COVID-19 disease are limited. We herein report the onset, progression, and outcome of 11 sequential cases of HCT recipients infected by SARS - CoV - 2 treated in our center. The patients' age ranged from 17 to 60 years, the duration from transplant to infection ranged from day +5 to 192 months, six patients were post-allo-HCT, four post-auto-HCT, and one had both allo and auto-HCT. The presenting symptoms were not different from other viral illnesses. The majority (seven patients) had mild COVID-19 stage, while 3 had a moderate stage on presentation. None of the patients required oxygen supplementation nor mechanical ventilation.
Keywords: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia; Bone marrow transplant; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Hematopoietic cell transplant; Lymphoma; Multiple myeloma; SARS-CoV-2; Stem cell transplant.