Children and COVID-19 Research Library

World Vision’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was the organisation’s largest ever in terms of geographic reach.  Launched March 11, 2020 - the day the World Health Organization declared the pandemic - the response spanned more than 70 countries and reached more than 81 million people over its two-and-a-half-year lifespan. In order to find out how effective the response was and what lessons needed to be learned World Vision consulted with 5,700 community members, health workers and faith leaders in eight countries, as well as staff from more than 50 offices.  The lessons showed what we got right and where we needed change or improve. This report also provided insights into the critical role our partners played in working with World Vision to reduce the spread of the disease, support health systems and staff, stand with children caught in the middle of the crises and advocate to protect the most vulnerable among them.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of online learning and other environmental factors on myopia progression during the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). A retrospective cohort study from 2018 to 2021. Data from children aged 6– 14 were gathered during three visits: pre-pandemic, at the beginning, and during the pandemic. Demographics (hours spent on screens for educational, recreational purposes, outdoors, and type of screen), best-corrected distance visual acuity (BCDVA), uncorrected distance visual acuity (UCDVA), and cycloplegic refraction were gathered.

This article seeks to review the current knowledge of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the health effects for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), became a major pandemic in 2020. Recognition of the disease could be difficult, as symptoms in children are at times different than adults and can mimic other common childhood viral infections. Children with underlying medical conditions did make up a higher proportion of those hospitalized, but also were affected in other ways including loss of nursing support, missed education and rehabilitative services, and increased stress for themselves and their families, affecting mental health in this vulnerable population. This review seeks to address what is currently known about the overall effects on CYSHCN and their families, and identify gaps in research, including the implementation of health care systems, and possible suggestions for change in the educational and community supports for this group of individuals. Ongoing analysis of large national and international data sets, as well as smaller reports based on specific congenital anomaly, genetics disease, and acquired childhood illness, and then attention to local resources and family resilience is still necessary.

Trauma is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population. During the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19), different trends for pediatric trauma (PT) were described. This study aims to explore the trend over time of PT in our center, also considering the effects of COVID-19, focusing on trauma mechanisms, violence-related trauma (VRT) and intentionality, especially suicide attempts (SAs). All PT patients accepted at Niguarda Trauma Center (NTC) in Milan from January 2015 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed.

The studies on the association between sleep duration and myopia are limited, and the evidence is inconsistent. This study aimed to evaluate the association between sleep duration and myopia, cycloplegic spherical equivalent (SE) and axial length (AL) among Chinese children during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The study was a cross-sectional study on Chinese children aged 6–18 years. The comprehensive ophthalmic examinations for children included cycloplegic SE, AL, and standardized questionnaires. The questionnaire included sleep duration, parental myopia, outdoor time, and continuous near work duration without breaks. Myopia was defined as SE ≤-0.50 diopters (D).

This study aimed to describe the level of knowledge of undergraduate students in Jordan toward COVID-19 in children in respect of the clinical signs of the disease, modes of transmission, protection measures against the disease and satisfaction with governmental measures. A cross-section was utilized in this study. An online survey questionnaire was utilized in this research study. All undergraduate students in Jordan were able to take part. The size of the sample was 799. Knowledge toward COVID-19 among children was used to assess the participants' knowledge about COVID-19.

This study examined psychosocial impact of Covid-19 on the achievement  of  secondary  school  adolescents  with  hearing disabilities  in  English  Language  in  Lagos  State.  A  survey research  design  was  employed  with  population  of hearing-impairedadolescents. A sample of hundred adolescents with hearing   impairment   was   selected   for   the   study   using purposive  sampling  technique  to  select  the participants  and simple  random  sampling  to  select  four  schools  practicing inclusion.  The  instruments  for  data  collection  were  ELAT (English Language Achievement Test) and Psychosocial Scale (PSS) with reliabilities of 0.69 and 0.79 respectively. Pearson Product   Moment   Correlation   Coefficient   and   Multiple Regression   were   used   to   analyse   data   collected.   The hypotheses    formulated    weretested    at    0.05    level    of significance.

The United Nations (UN) recognises free school meals as critical, yet widely disrupted by COVID-19. This study investigated caregiver perceptions and responses to interruptions to the universal infant free school meal programme (UIFSM) in Cambridgeshire, England, using an opt-in online survey.

This study has three aims: to elucidate determinants associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake in children and the association with parental vaccination; to compare rates of PCR-positive SARS-CoV-2 results between vaccinated and unvaccinated children; to estimate the rate of parental COVID-19 vaccination and its association with the vaccination rate of their children. It performed a retrospective chart review of all children aged 5–11 years registered at a central district in Israel from November 21st, 2021 to April 30th, 2022, and characterized COVID-19 vaccinated vs. unvaccinated individuals. Data retrieved from the electronic medical files included: demographics [age, gender, sector, socioeconomic status (SES)]; COVID-19 vaccination (first and second doses) and influenza vaccination status; co-morbidities; and parental vaccinations for COVID-19. It divided the population into three distinct demographic groups: non-ultra-orthodox Jews (43,889 children), ultra-orthodox Jews (13,858 children), and Arabs (4,029 children).

This study aims to describe the evolving impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the incidence and presentation of new-onset pediatric type 2 diabetes. Retrospective medical record review of youth with new-onset type 2 diabetes comparing the prepandemic period (1 January 2017–29 February 2020) with the first (1 March 2020–31 December 2020) and second pandemic year (1 January 2021–31 December 2021) were conducted.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the prevalence of obesity increased globally; this may be associated with hypertension incidence. However, investigations on the changes in the prevalence of hypertension among children and adolescents are limited. This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of hypertension among 1428 youths aged 10–18 years using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2018–2020. We assessed the prevalence of hypertension according to sex, age, body mass index (BMI), and residential district. The prevalence of hypertension increased from 7.1% to 12.5% in all participants. In the sex-specific analysis, the prevalence was found to be increased in boys. In the age-specific analysis, the prevalence was found to be increased in youths aged 13–15 years. In the BMI-specific analysis, an increase in the prevalence was prominent in the normal BMI group. In the residential district-specific analysis, the prevalence of hypertension among youth increased in urban areas. Our results show that the prevalence of hypertension increased among Korean children and adolescents during the COVID-19 outbreak. These findings suggest the importance of close monitoring of hypertension among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic represented not only a health crisis, but a social crisis for children, one that has disrupted notions of what a good childhood is. However, the longer-term implications of the pandemic are still to be seen, for children, their families and communities. This article is concerned with what these ongoing changes may be, based on a qualitative multi-stage study that asks children about their experiences of well-being before the pandemic, during lockdowns and post-COVID-19 lockdowns. This included asking seven children in online semi-structured interviews about what aspects of life brought on by COVID-19 restrictions they would like to see continue post-lockdown.

In 2020, humanity experienced one of the most complex situations in history: The COVID-19 pandemic, which caused significant social, economic, and educational consequences. Nevertheless, countries and people generally survived. Why? Resilience and the ability to cope are fundamental elements in human, community, and national survival. This study compared the situations experienced by six children from different social and educational backgrounds in Colombia during the COVID 19 pandemic using a collective analysis of cases. Interviews with children’s families, as well as observations of the participants and a narrative instrument from the BASIC Ph resiliency model (Lahad, 2016) are used to describe the context, the promoting factors of resilience, and the so-called coping “channels” of each case.