Coronaviruses are non-segmented positive-stranded RNA viruses with a roughly 30 kb genome.
The majority of coronaviruses cause disease in a specific host species but some have infected
humans by cross-species transmission. This process has led to a number of severe outbreaks of
human disease including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and Middle East
respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012.

From December 2019 a novel infection "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2"
(SARS-CoV-2) was identified in the Wuhan region of China. The infection was identified as the
causal factor in a growing number of severe cases of pneumonia. This disease was subsequently
named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by World Health Organisation (WHO). SARS-CoV-2 has
been shown to cause severe disease similar to the previous SARS coronavirus from 2003. Severe
disease is associated with pneumonia and damage to vital organs including lung, heart, liver,
and kidney.

Fortunately SARS-CoV-2 appears to cause only mild, or no, symptoms in children.

The social distancing measures in the United Kingdom include the closure of schools and the
cancelling of routine paediatric clinics. These drastic, but necessary, steps are likely to
have a profound effect on the well-being of children.

This study is required to determine what proportion of children have been exposed to
SARS-Cov-2 and how many, if any, have neutralizing antibodies. The findings from this study
could be used to inform public health decisions regarding the re-opening of schools and other
services vital to the well-being of children.

In addition the study will recruit children with paediatric multi-system inflammatory
syndrome admitted to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children along with matched controls
with other infections.