How worried should you be about HMPV outbreak in China?
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Scientists say virus is neither new nor poses unusual threat to global health. An increase in human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infections in China has received widespread media coverage, but leading scientists and public health experts say there isn’t yet a cause for alarm.
Chinese health authorities last month reported a rise in children aged 14 and under testing positive for HMPV as part of a broader update on the respiratory virus season. Photos and videos posted on social media in recent days show crowded hospitals in China, sparking concerns over the virus spreading to other countries and causing a Covid-like outbreak.
The concerns come just as the world completes five years since the novel coronavirus infection was first reported in China’s Wuhan. However, experts emphasise that HMPV is neither new nor poses an unusual threat to global health. Human metapneumovirus, first identified in 2001 by Dutch scientists, is a common respiratory virus known to cause mild cold-like symptoms in most people. However, it can lead to severe illness in infants, the elderly, and those with underlying health conditions.
Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, describes HMPV as one of many viruses contributing to winter pressure on healthcare systems. “It causes respiratory illness in babies and the elderly, which can result in hospitalisation. For most other age groups, it simply causes cold-like symptoms,” he says.
Professor John Tregoning from Imperial College London reiterates that HMPV is not a new virus and shares symptoms with other respiratory illnesses like RSV and flu. “It will present in the same way as flu, SARS-CoV-2, and RSV,” he says, adding that preventive measures like handwashing, good ventilation, and staying home when sick can help curb its spread.
