A systematic review notes that children with COVID-19 have milder effects and better prognoses than adults. However, children are susceptible to "multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children" (MIS-C), a rare but life-threatening systemic illness involving persistent fever and extreme inflammation following exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

As a vulnerable population, children and youth may be affected by COVID-19 pandemic policies implemented, including education, mental health, safety, and socioeconomic stability; the infection of the virus may lead to separation or loss of their family. As with many other crises, the COVID-19 pandemic may compound existing vulnerabilities and inequalities experienced by children. This was especially true when it comes to mental health.

Illness When a child is infected with COVID-19, they are more likely to have an asymptomatic case, or one that is mild to moderate in severity. The prevalence of long COVID in children is estimated at 1% vs 6-7% in adults.

Children are more likely to experience gastrointestinal symptoms than adults. Children are less likely to become hospitalized than adults.

Several explanations contributing to the milder COVID-19 symptoms experienced, in the acute phase, by children have been suggested, including: a lower expression of ACE-2 (the receptor used by SARS-CoV-2 for cell entry) in the respiratory tract in younger children viral interference (e.g. by other coronaviruses) cross-reactive immune responses (e.g. antibodies, CD8+ and/or CD4+ T-cells reactive to other viral antigens than of SARS-CoV-2) some protection offered from an increased Th2-response The most common symptoms among children include fever symptoms, followed by a dry cough. Other commonly reported symptoms among children include nasal congestion or runniness, fatigue, and headache.

Severe illness is possible. In some instances respiratory support (such as a ventilator) may be required. Some children have experienced multiple organ failure. Such severe or critical cases were most common among children with certain underlying conditions, such as for example, asthma or those with weakened immune systems. Overall, Children are associated with lower mortality rates than other age groups, when infected with COVID-19.

Some children who become infected develop a rare condition known as MIS-C, short for "multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children". This causes a persistent fever and extreme inflammation. Other symptoms associated with MIS-C include severe abdominal pain and hypotension.

Early into the pandemic, dermatologists reported an increase in chilblains-like lesions in children, especially on their feet, fingers, and toes. It has been informally referred to as "COVID toes". This was presumed related to COVID-19 infection, however confirming that a child has been infected can be difficult.

Education

School closures

By the end of March 2020, UNESCO estimated that over 89% of the world's student population was out of school or university due to closures aimed at mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

Gender disparity

This disproportionately affected girls, with 111 million girls living in areas in which getting an education is already a struggle due to extreme poverty, economic vulnerability steep cultural and legal gender disparities. For instance, closures have forced over 4 million girls out of school in South Sudan, Niger, and Mali, some of the countries with low enrollment and completion rates for girls.

Girls in refugee camps were already only half as likely as their male peers to enroll in secondary schools, and now school closures will affect them further as historically, school closures had caused a high proportion of girls to drop-outs and not return for reasons such as increased domestic and caretaker responsibilities.

Additionally, several studies found that school closures increased girls vulnerability to physical and sexual abuse both by older men and by their peers, as girls were often are at home alone and unsupervised.

Furthermore, frequency of transactional sex rose, due to families struggling to cover basic needs. As family breadwinners died and livelihoods were destroyed, many families either sold sex with their daughters, or sold them off as a child bride.

There was concern that the Covid crisis could be similar to the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, in which adolescent pregnancy increased by up to 65% in some communities. At that time, "most girls reported this increase was a direct result of being outside the protective environment provided by schools. Many of these girls never returned to the classroom, largely due to a recently revoked policy preventing pregnant girls from attending school."

Global Context

According to UNICEF, at the peak of the pandemic, 188 countries imposed countrywide school closures, affecting more than 1.6 billion children and youth.

At least 1 in 3 of the world's school children – 463 million children globally – were unable to access remote learning when COVID-19 shuttered their schools. This raised concerns regarding the social, economic, and educational impacts of protracted school closures on students.

In addition, school closures disproportionately affect children from low-income or minority families, children with disabilities, and young women, due to disparities in access to distance education, unequal distribution of increased child-care and domestic responsibilities. Additional concerns surrounded the fact that school subsidized meal programs and vaccinations are cornerstones of child healthcare for many families.

For example, school closures during the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa increased school dropouts, rates of child labor, violence against children, and teen pregnancies.

The Ofsted report conducted by the UK government stated that some children at every age group had regressed in their skills, but some had thrived. Inspectors found one large difference between children who struggled and children who thrived was that those who did well have good support structures and have benefited from quality time with families and caregivers. The report also found a rise in homeschooling even when schools were opened back up, with families concerned about the virus.

When commenting on that report, Amanda Spielman, the UK's chief inspector of schools, asserted that "loneliness, boredom and misery became 'endemic' among youngsters while their physical and mental health went into decline." She also believed some young children had fallen behind in their language skills, struggled to interact with their peers socially and lost physical dexterity and confidence through a lack of practice while confined to their homes.

Impact on student life globally

In a study of 30,383 students from 62 countries, students said overall they were most satisfied with the support provided by teaching staff and their universities' public relations. However, researchers argue that "deficient computer skills and the perception of a higher workload prevented them from perceiving their own improved performance in the new teaching environment."

Some students reported feeling boredom, anxiety, and frustration during the first lockdown in 2020. Students also reported higher satisfaction with the role played by hospitals and universities during the epidemic compared to the governments and banks.

During the lockdown, students primarily raised concerns about their future professional career.

Socio-demographic (and geographic) factors also played an important role in the students' perception of different aspects of academic work/life. The empirical results suggest that the transition from onsite to online lectures due to the COVID-19 crisis had a stronger effect on males, especially part-time students, undergraduate students, applied sciences students, students with a lower living standard, and students in Africa and Asia when it came to low satisfaction of their academic work and life.

When it came to students who were female, full-time, undergraduate, they were more likely to have low satisfaction or negative impacts in their emotional life and personal circumstances.

The results also demonstrate that more hopeful and less bored students, students who were more satisfied with their academic work/life, social science students, students with a better living standard (with a scholarship and/or the ability to pay the overall costs of study), and those who were studying in Europe showed greater satisfaction with the role and measures of their university during the COVID-19 crisis. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

A Reuters national survey conducted in the US indicated serious mental health consequences resulting from school shutdowns and the pandemic. This affected both students and their teachers. 90% of school districts surveyed said that their district was experiencing higher "absenteeism or disengagement", and 74% of districts indicated increasing mental stress among students.

Health and development

Increased stress for parents and caretakers, risk of infection, and social isolation threaten the health and development of children, and can contribute to adverse childhood experiences. Stressful pressures such as these can negatively impact a child's neurological development, especially in infancy or early childhood, including as a contributor to depression in adulthood. Academics have expressed concern that the development of infants which spent much of the first year of their lives in particular under lockdown may have been hampered by reduced social contact.

Research published in 2023 has investigated the extent to which education and care for young children has maintained its established positive associations with the development of language and executive functions during the first year of the pandemic. Addressing concerns about 'school readiness', the research found that sustained attendance was positively associated with language development, problem-solving skills and personal-social development of children despite the disruption to early years settings during the pandemic.

A report in The Lancet indicated that the COVID-19 would indirectly result in elevated maternal deaths and infant mortality, due to disrupted access to healthcare and food. According to the report, "Our least severe scenario ... over 6 months would result in 253,500 additional child deaths and 12,200 additional maternal deaths." Children risk losing caregivers to COVID-19. The pandemic and its consequences can cause decreased access to resources such as water, social work or medical care for vulnerable populations. Poverty among children has increased. In 2020, it was projected that approximately 150 million additional children would be living in multidimensional poverty – without access to education, health care, housing, nutrition, sanitation or water – due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis jointly carried out by Save the Children and UNICEF. Long-term physical inactivity resulting from social distancing and lockdown measures result in less physical fitness for children, including higher childhood obesity and disruption of sleep patterns. Lack of physical access to school resources can also heighten food insecurity for poor students.