How paediatric psycho-oncology is changing during the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy: New approaches
Ce dossier présente un ensemble d'articles concernant la prise en charge des cancers durant la crise sanitaire liée au COVID-19
The city of Turin, located in Piedmont, north‐west Italy, is the fourth largest city in Italy with almost 900 000 citizens in the municipality and 2 200 000 if we consider the city plus the surrounding area of its 315 municipalities. Since the end of April 2020, Piedmont and more specifically the metropolitan city of Turin, has been one of the mostly highly affected areas by the COVID‐19 pandemic with more than 20 000 cases throughout Piedmont and almost 10 000 in Turin alone. It has had the fourth highest number of positive cases in the country.1 International research2-4 is demonstrating that this particular coronavirus mainly affects older people and therefore cannot be considered a paediatric concern as such. This is also confirmed by Italian data that estimates the incidence of positive cases among children (age 0‐18) stands at around 1.2%.5, 6 Nonetheless, the epidemic has a potentially devastating indirect impact on the paediatric oncology population and the family as a whole. First, in consideration of their immunodepression, young patients are weaker and less able to fight infection. Second, they are already undergoing a psychological stressful condition due to the intense treatments they are receiving on a daily basis. Third, patient and caregiver are now being forced to tolerate social and relational isolation that is much stricter than they would be required to experience under normal circumstances. Finally, off‐treatment patients may suffer from feelings of anxiety if they find themselves reliving the limitations and fears they experienced during the course of treatment (fear of infection, isolation, use of extensive precautions). (...)
Psycho-Oncology , article en libre accès, 2019