What COVID-19 taught us about protecting kids in future pandemics

Five years after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, infectious disease experts continue to draw on its lessons for future disasters.

Yvonne Maldonado, MD, the Taube Professor in Global Health and Infectious Diseases, led Stanford Medicine's COVID-19 response. More recently, Maldonado, a professor of pediatrics and of epidemiology and population health, co-edited a special issue of Pediatric Clinics of North America on pandemic readiness planning, which is focused on the specific needs of children during such emergencies. The issue contains 13 invited reviews from more than three dozen experts throughout North America on how to plan for kids' needs during this type of medical disaster.

"We learned during COVID that everything in a disaster response tends to be one-size-fits-all," Maldonado said. Out of necessity, pandemic preparedness at every level -- from plans made in a single hospital or county to those of state and federal governments -- relies on pre-set protocols that enable fast, large-scale responses. But those protocols may overlook children.