The average age of the children diagnosed is 12-13 years, according to statistics from the Stockholm Region.
A total of 214 diagnoses for long-term covid, or long-covid, have been made on children in the Stockholm area.
There are no comprehensive statistics for the whole country yet.
- We have no legal opportunity to get that data from primary care, said Thomas Lindén, head of the knowledge management department for health and medical care, the National Board of Health and Welfare, at a press conference on 10 February.
See the children themselves tell about how they feel
Recently, the number of children seeking care for the problems has also increased at Astrid Lindgren's Children's Hospital.
But there are currently no guidelines for how the children should be treated - so Astrid Lindgren's hospital therefore works broadly.
Among other things, the team that meets the children includes a psychologist, physiotherapist, cardiologist, pulmonologist and neurologist.
- This may end up a bit in the shadows, perhaps of adult healthcare and adult covid, as the volumes are relatively small compared to adult healthcare.
Nevertheless, it is important that we get resources for these children, says chief physician Malin Ryd Rinder.
Research on long-term covid is coming
Many areas need to be covered to gain more knowledge, but no research is currently being done at the specialist clinic at Astrid Lindgren's Hospital.
- We thought it was important that the children received clinical care.
That is why we opened, says Malin Ryd Rinder.
The government recently decided to invest SEK 50 million in research that, among other things, will answer the question of how children should be treated.