New Delhi: The New Year may see a new virus — the Human metapneumovirus, medically termed HMPV, is causing a lot of anguish around the world. Especially, since viral footage have started pouring in from China that suggest hospitals and crematoriums are overwhelmed with patients suffering from this rNA virus. The bad news is that the respiratory virus outbreak is more or less confirmed but the good news is that neither is the HMPV a new variety (or mutation) nor is it considered a variant of concern by any Health Agency. The metapneumovirus has been around for two decades, even caused a surge in cases but hasn’t be as lethal or fatal as the COVID variants. It has remained a virus that causes common flu-like symptoms and has an incubation period of three-six days.
It is not surprising that the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not raised a red flag about the outbreak so far. Most international media is also not awash with reportage, they are watching developments.
There have been HMPV surges before
The virus, that was first discovered by Dutch scientists, was identified in children in 2001 in the Netherlands. The nature of the virus has been such as to cause upper or lower respiratory tract infections. However, it has been observed that the HMPV restricts itself mostly to lower respiratory tract infections causing flu-like symptoms that can easily be treated with home remedies. Doctors have warned that the same virus can behave differently in children with weakened immunity or even older patients already suffering from a fatal disease.
It’s virulence is being doubted but scientists have also observed the transmissibility of the virus. It can be carried via air droplets and by touching the infected surface, much like SARS-CoV2. This makes the virus extremely contagious but it won’t still result in a severe outcome. As was seen in 2018 and again in 2023 when there were mini outbreaks of the HMPV that rocked parts of the US (in 2023) and rest of the world in 2018. But even then, the health impact was minimal.
In 2018, the human metapneumovirus was responsible for only about 3-10 per cent of hospital admissions and 1 per cent of acute lower respiratory infection deaths in kids who were under the age of five. The findings published in a paper in 2021 also found that children younger than six months, those especially living in low and lower-middle-income countries, were at a much greater risk of death caused by the HMPV virus.
Even in 2023, there was a surge in HMPV cases recorded in the United States. Some studies are being circulated which suggest that the HMPV infections were reported as early as the Spring of 2023. It is to be noted that the CNN perceived the metapneumovirus as not a novel virus for most of the countries in the world, causing a similar level of illness in the US each year as the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
The HMPV has been around, it has caused discomfort but may not have resulted in anything more fatal.
Expert says outbreak due to increased surveillance
News9 spoke with Dr Ishwar Gilada, a prominent infectious disease expert from India, who termed all the news on the HMPV as mere “fearmongering”. He advised physicians to maintain their calm while abating fears of the patients regarding the new outbreak that is being termed as a novel virus of concern. “It is not! It is a common respiratory virus that mostly impacts young children. It may cause considerable discomfort in senior citizens with a weakened immunity but it won’t kill anyone unless it manifests into something bigger. At present, the virus doesn’t appear to be that fatal. Although, prevention against all kinds of infectious viruses is important but there is certainly no cause for panic,” he said.
China calls it a “winter occurrence” and Gilada said it could well be only that. “The HMPV is a known virus that can cause peaks of surge (here and there) but it has never been a variant of concern, especially because of the virus family that it comes from. The outbreak being reported from China may only be due to increased surveillance and nothing else,” he added.
There have been at least three HMPV cases reported from India since morning and the count may only rise. However, doctors have quelled fears about the fatality of the human Metapneumovirus saying it is not known to be of a virulent type, nor will it cause hospitalisations. Children younger than five years of age may be exposed to this respiratory virus but most cases will recover without any cause for concern. Infectious disease expert, Ishwar Gilada, stresses on the fact that fear mongering should be avoided at all cost because the outbreak is not a novel one Health News Health News: Latest News from Health Care, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Disease, Nutrition, Healthcare
