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Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases are surging in China and people are worried about another pandemic. Should they be?
HMPV is a upper respiratory tract infection that causes flu or cold-like symptoms. It spreads much like the flu in that it can be passed via direct contact between people or by touching a contaminated surface.
In addition to cough, fever and nasal congestion, HMPV, if left unchecked, can lead to serious complications such as bronchitis or pneumonia. The very young, those with weakened immune systems, and the elderly are the most susceptible to the virus. There is also no vaccine against HMPV.
While human metapneumovirus has been around since at least 2001 when it was first identified in the Netherlands, and its spread this year in China is being written off mostly as just a seasonal spike, one disease expert, Dr. Sanjaya Senanayake, associate professor of medicine at The Australian National University, is still saying that it is “vital” for China to share its infection data in a “timely manner.”
According to The Independent, India has ramped up its monitoring of cases of HMPV since it began to spread there, in Malaysia and in Kazakhstan.
In America, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also reported that it is “monitoring” cases of human metapneumovirus in China’s northern provinces, but that, according to a spokesperson, it is “not currently a cause for concern in the U.S.”
Authorities in Beijing have downplayed surge in cases of human metapneumovirus, much like they did with COVID, and so far, the World Health Organization has not issued a global health emergency.
“HMPV can certainly make people very sick, but the current situation in China with high HMPV cases is very different from the threats initially posed by SARS-CoV-2,” said Professor Jill Carr, a virologist at Flinders University.
Dr. Hsu Li Yang, an infectious diseases physician in Singapore, told the BBC, that he is advising people to wear a mask in crowded places, avoid crowds where possible if you are at higher risk of respiratory virus infections, practice good hand hygiene, and to get the flu vaccine.