HPMV doctors beg China for more information as they give verdict on pandemic potential
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Brit doctors have been pleading for transparency over HMPV rates as wards see a worrying rise in cases. Human metapneumovirus is a virus with symptoms similar to a cold, including a cough, fever and blocked or runny nose, and has been on the rise in parts of China. Rates of the virus have also been rising in the UK amidst a major winter flu crisis which has seen NHS wards overwhelmed.
Leading virus expert Dr Andrew Catchpole said that there was currently not enough information from Chinese public health authorities over the impacts of the virus. While Beijing has confirmed there is currently a HMPV problem, specific details on case rates and the spread of the virus are less clear.
Dr Catchpole, Chief Scientific Officer at testing firm hVIVO, said: "We need more information on the specific strain that is circulating to start to understand if this is the usual circulating strains or if the virus causing high infection rates in China has some differences.".
He added: "It is unclear just how high the numbers are or if issues are arising purely due to coinciding with high flu and Covid levels." Dr Catchpole has also added, however, that the virus was known to "mutate and change over time with new strains emerging", adding it was "not a virus considered to have pandemic potential".
Pictures from China have showed hospitals apparently overwhelmed with patients, many of whom were being treated in corridors, amidst rising cases, particularly in northern provinces. Cases have been recorded rising in countries including India, the US, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, although the CDC has said it was monitoring the virus, but did not consider it a serious threat.
