HMPV fears grow over reports 'mystery' virus 'causing pneumonia within days' in China
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Fresh fears have emerged about the threat of the 'mystery' virus that's been dubbed HMPV amid reports that patients are developing potentially deadly pneumonia in days. HMPV is the driving force behind a huge wave of hospitalisations in China, with reports of cases rising across the globe. Now, it has been claimed that middle-aged patients testing positive for the virus are going on to develop pneumonia "between three and five days later", according to unconfirmed reports.
Users on the Chinese social media app Weibo have been making claims about the outbreak of the 'mystery' virus, with one saying according to the YouTube channel Decoding China, the wave was "worse than in 2022" with claims children have been dying from a sudden drop in heart rate. The mention of 2022 refers to a significant Covid outbreak in Shanghai in February 2022 as the Omicron variant led to mass testing and strict lockdowns.
According to the YouTube video report, a pulmonologist, specialist in respiratory disease, claimed patients aged 50 to 70 were testing positive for influenza and experiencing rapid deterioration of their lung conditions before going on to develop pneumonia in three to five days. However, reports of the state of the HMPV outbreak in China are tough to verify as Chinese authority have kept quiet when it comes to figures for both case numbers and deaths.
Fears over the new virus first surfaced in early January as footage emerged from Chinese hospitals, purportedly showing them overrun with patients in face masks appearing to crowd A&Es - drawing comparisons to the early days of the Covid outbreak. Local media reports blamed the spike in respiratory illness on hMPV, human metapneumovirus, a lesser-known but not uncommon bug that usually causes mild cold-like illness.
