COVID-19

Nurse puts a band aid on a girl after COVID-19 vaccine

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a type of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in 2019.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that usually cause mild or moderate illnesses such as the common cold. Some types of coronaviruses can cause more serious, even life-threatening diseases such as COVID-19.

SARS-CoV-2 usually enters the mouth or nose and infects cells of the airways. It can cause coughing, fever, shortness of breath, a sore throat, headache and in some variants, temporary loss of taste or smell.

COVID-19 spreads from an infected person’s mouth or nose through coughing, sneezing, speaking, singing or breathing, or by touching contaminated surfaces.

The virus can infect children, but they appear less likely than adults to have severe symptoms and develop serious illness.

Vaccination reduces the risks of severe disease and death, and several drugs reduce the risk of disease progression.

Who does it affect?

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020. By May 2022, Australia had recorded 6 million of 520 million global cases and 7,873 of the world’s 6.2 million COVID-19 deaths.
Worldwide, COVID-19 has killed more than 17,400 people under 20 years of age, but children generally experience mild or no symptoms. About 1 per cent are hospitalised and death is rare.
About one in 20 COVID-19 cases in Australia are in those aged under 19.
Vulnerable children with existing illnesses or from disadvantaged backgrounds (lower-middle-income countries) can also be more affected.

Our COVID-19 research

As one of the world’s top medical research institutes, we’ve brought together our resources, scale and partnerships to combat COVID-19. We collaborate with research institutes and health authorities worldwide, focusing on our areas of expertise to support the global effort.

We established the Melbourne Children's COVID-19 Kids Research Program which includes a team of more than 50 doctors and researchers with expertise in many fields. Its focus is on interventions to lessen the impact of COVID-19 and research into the virus’ effects on children, families and healthcare workers.

Our six key COVID-19 research areas are:

COVID Response – investigating vaccines and therapeutics.
COVID Kids – studying disease features, infection, incidence and transmission in children. The research includes effects on organs to support the development of treatments, an international paediatric COVID-19 intensive care registry to improve outcomes of infected children and newborns needing critical care, and school research including studying transmission in schools and childcare.
COVID Immune – investigating immune system factors associated with disease severity and protection.
COVID Wellbeing – studying long-term societal, mental and physical health and economic impacts on children and families including prevention, treatment and ongoing support for COVID-related health problems.
COVID Vulnerable – evaluating impacts on vulnerable communities including the socially disadvantaged and those with chronic illness.
COVID Global – studying impact on children and families in developing countries and mitigating strategies.

Impacts of our research

Little girl with school bag wearing a COVID-19 face mask

Impacts of our research

Our research addresses COVID-19 from all angles to provide governments, businesses and families with evidence-based answers, tools, resources and advice. In each of the six key areas, we’ve made significant and globally relevant contributions to COVID-19 knowledge. Our research and summaries of global studies inform health policy and practice.
Our experts have been widely quoted in the media on COVID-19 and vaccination. We’ve produced COVID-19 fact sheets, videos, podcasts, webinars and research briefs to give parents reliable information.
We lead an international paediatric COVID-19 intensive care registry compiling data on SARS-CoV-2 infections in babies and children to improve intensive care outcomes. We monitor child presentations from asymptomatic (no symptoms) to severe.
Our research into COVID-19’s effects on organs has deepened our understanding of the virus’ impacts on the heart. We’re studying its effects on every organ and the placenta to develop treatments, and investigating long-COVID symptoms including fatigue and breathing problems.
We’re investigating effects on children’s immune systems and found a child’s innate immune system (first line of defence) protects from severe COVID-19, as does their blood vessel health.
Our analyses informed return-to-school policies and help keep school gates open. We found that the indirect and social impacts of the pandemic on children and adolescents are substantial, affecting mental and physical health and learning.
As part of the global COVID Human Genetic Effort, we found faulty genes linked to severe infection.
Our ongoing research on COVID-19 vaccination safety and effectiveness has revealed at risk populations and early warning signs to ensure safe administration and management.

Our vision

Our goal is to save lives and reduce the impacts of COVID-19 on children and the community now and into the future. Our contributions to the global effort to fight the pandemic will mean better vaccines, treatments, access, prevention and outcomes.