New Delhi: There were disturbing images and viral video footages about the China HMPV outbreak that took us all by a surprise this week. A specific video shared on social networking site, X, showed individuals wearing masks and were crammed into designated waiting areas. There were some other videos circulating that showed patients coughing and sneezing at the hospitals. This was reported widely from areas in Northern China. While authorities acknowledged the problem immediately, the health officials from China played down the scene and called it a natural “winter occurrence.” Since then, the media has been awash with reports on the HMPV, or the human metapneumovirus, that is part of the virus problem causing a surge in China.
There is a noticeable spike in respiratory illness seen in China, the Reuters reported, adding that there is a rise in HMPV cases, “particularly among children under the age of 14 in northern areas.” The global news agency also went on to report that “data for acute respiratory disorders revealed a rise in total infections for the week of December 16–22.”
Bothered by a cocktail of viruses, including the Covid variant still in circulation, causing the hospitals in China to be overwhelmed, the country’s disease control authority had announced on December 27 that it was “testing a monitoring system for pneumonia of ‘unknown origin’.”
Combining both the Reuters report which claims there is acute respiratory disorders being witnessed in the country and the fact that Chinese health authorities have called it a pneumonia of unknown origin makes one wonder if we are all worried about the same human metapneumovirus or HMPV? After all, this is not new, has been around for at least two decades and epidemiologists have had enough time to study its genus. They have consensually reached the conclusion that the metapneumovirus is not a virulent strain that can cause acute respiratory disorders, let alone result in hospitalisations or death.
Why are the hospitals in China crowded in that case?
Overwhelmed hospitals in China but no clear picture still, how come?
Some have pointed out the scary hospital situation being a part of the Chinese culture where young kids are immediately taken to clinics or hospitals and are put on IVs to keep their body hydrated while treating the infection from the roots. Is that the case with HMPV outbreak as well? Or, as the report suggested, is it something more acute that people in the northern part of China dealing with in the first place?
Apart from an initial report and an article published in Chinese media that acknowledged the virus situation and blamed it squarely on not one, but three strains, that are currently causing the spike, there has been very little information that has been shared by China. They have even stepped up monitoring systems in the country and tests have become frequent but one doesn’t have clarity on the nature of the virus that China is studying. If it is indeed the human metapneumovirus that is causing such an uncomfortable scene in the country, has this virus undergone a mutation that one is not aware of?
These are some of the questions worrying the scientific community.
The human metapneumovirus was first discovered in 2001 in Netherlands and has been a perennial respiratory virus that attacks young children, under the age of 5. It is known to have an incubation period of 3-6 days where it causes symptoms that are like the common flu – sore throat, runny nose, fatigue, fever, chills – in very small cases does the HMPV cause serious respiratory issues like aggravated asthma or COPD. There have been previous outbreaks of the virus which has given us ample findings. In none of these documented outbreaks, did we see a global panic situation.
“It is because the HMPV came and went. Young children are exposed to it, and they recover at home. Very seldom, only in premature born babies, have we seen the metapneumovirus causing serious respiratory illnesses of the nature that could cause death or hospitalisation. Therefore, no panic was observed back then,” explains Dr Shishi Jha, an ENT specialist from Fortis. He added that the seriousness of the disease now points towards a new variant of the HMPV or something altogether new.
Critics are also wary of China not being transparent enough about the nature of this virus. They are equating this with China’s complete silence during the Covid variant being discovered from Wuhan. Even though officials have negated controversies that suggested the virus was born out of a laboratory in China, there is still an impasse on the issue.
Apart from Beijing maintaining a conspicuous silence on the HMPV virus, the quietude of the World Health Organization (WHO) and even the US Centre for Disease Control on the recent outbreak is making a lot of people very nervous. There are questions being asked if the health bodies are hiding a new variant of concern.
WHO’s silence is not golden, but what are they hiding?
Is it possible that Beijing has stumbled upon an entirely new virus belonging to the RSA family or are they dealing with another mutation of SARS-CoV 2. Experts say it is possible that the Covid is evolving at a fast pace and may be throwing up newer variants of concern like the Delta or the Omicron or even the FLiRT variant that we saw in the beginning of 2024. Scientists who have been dealing with the coronavirus strains say it is possible that the next pandemic also would be caused by the Covid family.
The fact that WHO hasn’t broken their silence and released an advisory on the same only makes matters worse. One argument is that both the Health Bodies are keeping a guarded watch on the developments from Beijing but are not releasing a statement unless they are very sure of what to say. The other argument is that they themselves DO NOT KNOW!
“It can be a Covid that is transferred from animals or even via infected individuals but there is a huge possibility that the new waves around the globe could be one or the other strain of the SARS- CoV 2,” says Dr Jha. Is it possible that the HMPV may just be one of the flu viruses in circulation but the actual surge in the hospitals is being caused by Covid? Dr Jha replied with an emphatic yes!
“If you believe the social media posts coming out of China, showing over crowded hospitals, it does appear like a fatal Coronavirus strain playing the mischief. Because HMPV alone cannot cause such a massive health duress, China’s cultural habits notwithstanding. If it is indeed only the human metapneumovirus, then the world needs to be watchful but not very scared,” Jha said.
Whether it is a new strain of the same variety or a different virus altogether, it is about time WHO says something. We wouldn’t want a COVID like situation to take over again, do we?
As cases of the HMPV start to pile up, and countries are busy stepping up mechanisms to test for the virus in question, the quietude of both WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, does not augur well. Some people have even started equating the recent Chinese HMPV outbreak, and their silence on the matter, as being similar to what the case was five years ago when Covid was first found in Wuhan. Is China using the human metapneumovirus as a Trojan Horse to divert attention away from a possibly new Covid variant? Health News Health News: Latest News from Health Care, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Disease, Nutrition, Healthcare
