Tackling COVID-19 for children and families

We’re reducing the impact of COVID-19 on the health and wellbeing of children and the community, now and into the future.

At Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), our COVID-19 response leverages the breadth and depth of our research and our deep understanding of children, young people, families and communities.

As Australia’s leading child health research institute, we strive to improve national and international understanding of the effects of COVID-19 on children.

Our researchers’ expertise spans paediatrics, epidemiology, infectious diseases, public and mental health, and vaccine development. By working collaboratively, we aim to create a safer, healthier future for all children.

We’re reducing the impact of COVID-19 on the health and wellbeing of children and the community, now and into the future.

At Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), our COVID-19 response leverages the breadth and depth of our research and...

We’re reducing the impact of COVID-19 on the health and wellbeing of children and the community, now and into the future.

As Australia’s leading child health research institute, we strive to improve national and international understanding of the effects of COVID-19 on children.

Our pandemic response

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we faced an unprecedented global challenge. We worked together to understand how COVID-19 affects children and young people, how their immune systems respond, and what role vaccines could play in protecting them. This effort helped us navigate the immediate crisis and laid the foundation for long-term strategies against COVID-19 and future pandemics.

During the height of the pandemic, we worked on several COVID-19 research projects, including:

Hospital admission studies that showed children were generally spared the most severe effects of COVID-19, though the risk of long-COVID remains uncertain.
Discovering that the virus triggers the innate immune system (the body's first line of defence) in children but not in adults, shedding light on age-specific responses to infection.
Exploring the use of stem cells to study COVID-19’s effects on organs and develop better treatments for those affected.
Offering critical advice on immunisation and vaccine production, including helping make vaccines available for children aged 12-15.

How we’re preparing for future challenges

Our ongoing work is focused on preparing for future pandemics by continuing our COVID-19 research. We are:

Contributing profound knowledge to governments, healthcare professionals, businesses, and families, providing them with the evidence-based tools to fight future viruses.
Investigating how policies like lockdowns and school closures impacted young people to ensure that future responses protect their wellbeing.

By understanding the lessons from COVID-19, we aim to build a healthier future for children and ensure that we are ready to minimise the impact of future global health crises.

Our focus going forward

Children and adolescents continue to make up a significant portion of COVID-19 cases, but hospital admissions remain low. Our researchers are working hard to understand why many young people have mild or no symptoms and to explore the long-term effects of the virus (long-COVID) on those who become unwell.

As evidence grows that SARS-CoV-2 impacts organs beyond the lungs, we are collaborating with leading experts to study causes, identify risk factors, and develop new ways of protecting children from severe complications. Our research now extends to developing targeted treatments to safeguard the health of future generations.

Current research

Long-COVID research

Due to the newness of the virus, many of the long-term effects of COVID-19 in children remain unknown. Our long-COVID research focuses on ongoing physical COVID symptoms and the mental health impacts on children and families following extended COVID-19 lockdowns. We are also closely monitoring the various indirect effects of the pandemic, including the impact of health inequities like limited access to services.

Research

LifeCourse COVID-19 response

Australia’s public health measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 were incredibly successful in comparison to other countries, but they did not come without additional burdens. Researchers are collaborating and conducting studies using existing groups involved in the LifeCourse program, to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on physical and mental wellbeing, plus the risk of family violence, substance abuse, and the financial stability of children and their families. This research helps to inform policy responses to address the impacts of the pandemic on Victorians.

Wellbeing and the clinical, psychosocial and economic impacts of COVID-19

Professor Margie Danchin is investigating the immediate and long-term impact on the health and wellbeing of children and families tested for COVID-19 at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH). Combined with our existing group studies, school-based surveys and online community polls, we are identifying the immediate and potential medium and long-term societal, mental health and economic impacts on children and families. This information can be used to help inform policy responses. Generation Victoria (GenV), which aims to monitor the health and wellbeing of every child born in Victoria, is crucial to the success of this research.

Mental health resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Professors Vicki Anderson and Harriet Hiscock are undertaking in-depth mental health research to understand the impact of COVID-19, recovery processes and factors that enhance resilience in Victoria’s most vulnerable children and their families. Groups include children with chronic illnesses, existing mental health conditions, disabilities, intellectual disability and refugee children.

Understanding the legacy of COVID-19 infection

Professors David Burgner and Kirsten Perrett are leading a study investigating the legacy of COVID-19 infection. This research aims to understand whether some children are more vulnerable to COVID-19 due to differences in their immune system and how long immunity to COVID-19 lasts in children. By using existing population-based groups at MCRI, they can compare their data to historical data and biological samples that were collected from these participants previously.

Associated campus papers

Perinatal mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) – World Psychiatry
Clarifying the Sweeping Consequences of COVID-19 in Pregnant Women, Newborns, and Children With Existing Cohorts (2020) – JAMA Pediatrics
Decrease in Infection-related Hospital Admissions During COVID-19: Why Are Parents Avoiding the Doctor? (2020) – The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
Adaptive innovations to provide services to children with developmental disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) – Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
COVID-19: implications for paediatric dental care in the hospital setting (2020) – Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
Subjective wellbeing in parents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia (2021) – PubMed
Psychosocial Assessments After COVID-19 (2020) – Journal of Adolescent Health
COVID-19 and complicated bacterial pneumonia in children (2021) – ERJ Open Research
Clarifying the Sweeping Consequences of COVID-19 in Pregnant Women, Newborns, and Children with Existing Cohorts (2020) – JAMA Pediatrics

COVID-19 infection & transmission in children

COVID-19 vaccine research

Past research

COVID-19 school research

To get children back to school, MCRI prepared the COVID-19 in Victorian ECEC and Schools report at the request of the Department of Health and the Department of Education, Victoria.

We remain committed to collaborating with these departments to manage and monitor future outbreaks through enhanced surveillance.

Research

A guide to safely re-opening Victorian schools and early learning centres

MCRI researchers, led by Professors Fiona Russell and Sharon Goldfeld, published the COVID-19 in Victorian ECEC and Schools report which found COVID-19 cases in schools and childcare are mainly driven by community transmission. The report recommended that remote learning should be a last resort.

COVID-19 enhanced surveillance in schools

Led by Professor Margie Danchin, we worked with the Victorian Department of Health and the Victorian Department of Education, Victoria to conduct a COVID-19 school study. The study aimed to increase understanding of COVID-19 transmission in schools and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services. The findings from this research continue to inform the public health response to outbreaks in schools and ECEC services.

The study aims to increase knowledge about key aspects of COVID-19 transmission and the public health response. These include the role of young children and students in COVID-19 transmission and the impact of COVID-19 on schools and ECEC communities. This evidence helps to understand how COVID-19 is spread in schools and ECEC, inform the best way to respond to outbreaks, and ensure that children, students and staff are supported and can continue to learn and thrive.

Associated campus papers

Remote Learning During COVID-19: Examining School Practices, Service Continuation, and Difficulties for Adolescents with and Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (2020) – Journal of Adolescent Health
An evidence-based theory of change for reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission in reopened schools (2020) – Health & Place
COVID-19, children and schools: overlooked and at risk (2021) – The Medical Journal of Australia

Global health

COVID-19 research briefs

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