Pediatrician: This is how children can get the coronavirus

Overall, the image of children as a group that has been affected to a very small extent when it comes to covid-19 still applies, says Jonas F Ludvigsson, who is a pediatrician at Örebro University Hospital and professor at Karolinska Institutet.

- The short answer when it comes to covid-19 and children is that they are almost not affected.

We have to remember that we have maybe 7,000 dead and virtually none of them are children, they say something.

They can get symptoms such as fever, headache, cough and shortness of breath but most do not get seriously ill but it is like a cold.

But for some, the consequences are still more serious.

- Then it is about a very small subgroup that becomes seriously ill in the acute event.

A group that gets persistent problems, so-called long covid, and one that suffers from Multiinflammatory syndrome or hyperinflammation as it is also called and which usually comes some time after they have been infected with covid-19, says Jonas F Ludvigsson.

As for children who become acutely, seriously, ill with covid-19, it is estimated that there are a few dozen cases and those affected have been children with underlying diseases.

But as for the other two groups, it has also affected previously healthy children.

It is estimated that there are a total of at least a little over a hundred cases when it comes to long-term problems, and about a hundred cases in the case of children who needed hospital care for hyper-inflammation.

Sometimes extensive hospital care.

- Hyperinflammation gets a dramatic initial stage with a lot of effort and sometimes intensive care.

But it looks like these kids are going to be completely healthy.

Even though it is a relatively new condition where we have not been able to follow any case for a very long time, there are many indications of it, says Jonas F Ludvigsson.

And even though the number of cases has increased during the autumn, Jonas F Ludvigsson believes that parents as a whole should not be particularly worried.

Hear Ludvigsson tell and explain more in the clip above