STOCKHOLM, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Sweden's so far reported 50 multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) children cases can be linked to COVID-19, Swedish Radio reported on Saturday.
Earlier, Swedish Television (SVT) quoted Jonas F Ludvigsson, pediatrician and professor of epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet, as saying that these cases are likely caused by COVID-19.
Ludvigsson told SVT on Thursday that he felt "quite confident" that COVID-19 was the triggering factor. However, not all confirmed cases had COVID-19 antibodies in them. "I think, the fact that not all children have been tested positive for COVID-19, is due to the fact that not everyone seems to develop antibodies after an (COVID-19) infection."
According to SVT, Sweden reported in May only four cases of children with COVID-19 that developed into MIS, and the number increased to 50 till now. Out of these 50 cases, ten children have received intensive care and another three have received Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation treatment. So far, none have died.
Ludvigsson said these children have symptoms similar to that of Kawasaki disease, a rare inflammatory disease, which attacks mainly infants and small children and whose symptoms include high fever, rashes, swollen glands, pink eyes and heart inflammation in serious cases.
"MIS is probably worse. I have seen children with very serious impact on heart, much more than Kawasaki," Ludvigsson was quoted by SVT as saying, "It is a dangerous disease, but deaths are extremely rare."
Inflammation of blood vessels and cardiac damage are much more pronounced in cases suspected of being linked to COVID-19 compared with classic Kawasaki disease, France's public health agency said earlier. Enditem
