Children and COVID-19 Research Library

The UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank inter-agency team update the joint global and regional estimates of malnutrition among children under 5 years of age each year. These estimates of prevalence and numbers affected for child stunting, overweight, wasting and severe wasting are derived for the global population as well as by regional groupings of United Nations (UN) regions and sub-regions, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), UNICEF, WHO and World Bank regions, as well as World Bank country-income group classifications.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is associated with thrombotic complications in adults, but the incidence of COVID-19 related thrombosis in children and adolescents is unclear. Most children with acute COVID-19 have mild disease, but coagulopathy has been associated with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a post-infectious complication. This study conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort research to determine the incidence of thrombosis in children hospitalized with COVID-19 or MIS-C and to evaluate associated risk factors.

Pregnant women with COVID-19 are at increased risk for severe illness and pregnancy complications compared with non-pregnant women. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine analyzed placentas from SARS-CoV-2-infected women at the time of delivery and found that, although placental cells are susceptible to infection in vitro, viral RNA is rarely detected in clinical samples. The Yale team observed local immune responses at the maternal-fetal interface, including upregulation of interferon pathways and activation of T and NK cells. Although placental immune activation during maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection likely represents a host defense mechanism of shielding the maternal-fetal interface from infection, these inflammatory changes may contribute to the increased risk for complications seen in COVID-19-affected pregnancies.

Since early 2020, global stakeholders have highlighted the significant gendered consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, including increases in the risk of gender-based violence (GBV). Researchers have sought to inform the pandemic response through a diverse set of methodologies, including early efforts modelling anticipated increases in GBV. For example, in April 2020, a highly cited modelling effort by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and partners projected headline global figures of 31 million additional cases of intimate partner violence due to 6 months of lockdown, and an additional 13 million child marriages by 2030. In this paper, we discuss the rationale for using modelling to make projections about GBV, and use the projections released by UNFPA to draw attention to the assumptions and biases underlying model-based projections.

The aim was to examine the psychological effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnant women, as well as the factors influencing these effects. The study design was cross-sectional and the participants were 200 pregnant women. The first group called the Pandemic Group (PG) included 100 women who were evaluated with psychological assessment instruments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second group titled Pre-Pandemic Group (PPG) consisted of 100 women who were evaluated prior to the pandemic. Perceived stress, prenatal concerns and psychopathological symptoms were evaluated and compared.

The scourge of COVID-19 has been global, but the most affected subgroups in the population have largely been older people and individuals with comorbid conditions that predispose them to increasingly severe disease and poor outcomes. Overall, the disease burden in children has been reasonably mild, even in those with comorbidities, such as oncological conditions. Protection from severe disease in children might be related to a lower expression of host factors required for viral replication, and to differences in the magnitude and timing of innate or adaptive immune responses. Data for recorded COVID-19 cases show that only 7% of children younger than 18 years with severe disease required intensive care, whereas 53% of adults who had severe disease required intensive care.

This study is part of a cross-country series designed to share emerging findings in real time from qualitative interviews with adolescents and school teachers in the context of covid-19. Our sample for this study was purposefully selected from an ongoing baseline GAGE impact evaluation study, and includes two cohorts: younger adolescents (10–14 years) and older adolescents (15–19 years), all of whom are in-school (grades 7 and 8). Adolescent respondents were drawn from both urban and rural schools in Chittagong and Sylhet divisions of Bangladesh. The objectives of the research are as follows: 1) to understand adolescents’ experiences of transition from childhood to adulthood, and to identify differences in their experiences by age, gender, disability and geographic location; 2) to identify adolescents’ knowledge of covid-19, and how the pandemic response has affected adolescent lives. To inform the pandemic response, this study aims to understand adolescents’ knowledge, perceptions and practices during the covid-19 pandemic, their challenges and worries, and the coping mechanisms they are using to deal with the evolving situation.

This working paper explores the meanings and experiences of resilience, and its gender dimensions, among a cohort of Ethiopian children exposed to poverty and adversity across the early life course. It asks why some girls and some boys seem to fare well as they transition to adulthood, despite the challenges and obstacles they had faced, while others do less well. The data comprise repeat life history interviews (from ages 12 to 24) and survey questionnaires over a 20-year period (to age 25). Qualitative analysis (n=64) revealed how children’s lives did not follow linear paths, and were easily derailed by unplanned events and shocks, including: (a) climatic shocks; (b) societal influences; (c) school transitions and relations; (d) household changes; and (e) child health and social development. Gender mediated children’s experiences of risk and their individual and family coping mechanisms.

This policy brief draws on a qualitative study that uses a gender perspective to investigate the notion of resilience among a cohort of young women and young men who grew up in poverty in five rural and urban communities in Ethiopia, and who are part of the broader Young Lives longitudinal study of 3000 children and young people in the country.  It asks why some children seem to fare well as they transistion to adulthood, despite the challenges and obstacles they had faced, whilst others do less well.

These timely Guidelines were developed precisely with the aim to assist countries and stakeholders to conduct assessments of their national education legal and policy frameworks. The first edition was published in 2014. Today, more than being just a revision, the new Guidelines have been entirely re-designed and re-written to reflect the new context, trends and challenges. They build on the new knowledge we produced, capitalize on the work carried out in countries, and use improved methodological tools.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the largest disruption of education in history. Throughout 2020 most governments around the world temporarily closed schools and other learning spaces in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. At the peak of the pandemic in April 2020, schooling was disrupted for over 1.5 billion learners in more than 190 countries. This unprecedented disruption to education has the potential to roll back substantial gains made on girls’ education inrecent decades, with broader immediate and longer-term effects on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, including those related to poverty reduction, health and well-being, inclusive quality education and gender equality.