News of the spread of a respiratory virus in China and images of crowded hospitals have predictably led to panic, with concerns that human metapneumovirus (HMPV) could be 2025’s COVID 2.0.
US cases have increased since November. Although the numbers are low overall, the CDC found that 1.94% or 13,800 people tested positive for HMPV the week of December 28.
However, health experts say the increase in cases is not necessarily cause for alarm, asserting that HMPV is a very different type of disease.
Professor Jill Carr, a virologist at Flinders University, told SBS News that the surge in Chinese HMPV cases is far from pandemic.
“HMPV can certainly make people very sick and the high number of cases is a threat to effective hospital services, but the current situation in China with high HMPV cases is very different from the threats originally posed by SARS-CoV -2 resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.
Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, maintains that any major reaction to HMPV is just a knee-jerk response.
“There’s just this tendency after COVID to treat any infectious disease as an emergency when it’s not,” Adalja told The Washington Post. “Surely you wouldn’t call me in 2018 about that.”
The CDC said it was aware of an increase in HMPV cases in northern China following reports from Beijing-run media confirming that positivity rates had risen sharply among children 14 and older.
However, he emphasized that the number of cases of respiratory diseases in America remains at “pre-pandemic” levels and is not a cause for concern.
And in a statement released Friday, the Chinese government played down claims that HMPV cases were skyrocketing.
“Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. “Diseases appear to be less severe and widespread at a smaller scale compared to last year,” the office added.
Sanjaya Senanayake, an associate professor of medicine at the Australian National University, told SBS News, “At this stage, the likelihood is that China is experiencing a bad HMPV season, in the same way that in some years we have an overwhelming flu season. This may be due to a combination of viral and behavioral factors, but should be put to rest.”
What is HMPV?
HMPV is a respiratory illness that causes symptoms similar to the common cold or flu: cough, fever, congestion, runny nose, sore throat and shortness of breath, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Unlike COVID, HMPV is considered an “anonymous virus,” meaning that many people infected with HMPV don’t know they have it, mistaking their symptoms as a cold or flu. However, MPV can progress to more dire symptoms, including pneumonia.
Among young children, older adults, and the immunocompromised, HMPV can cause illness severe enough to send them to the hospital.
Most children have had HMPV by age 5 and recover quickly, but for some youngsters, the disease can take a worrying turn.
A 2015 study in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society found that infants and children younger than 2 years old were more likely to be hospitalized with HMPV. Of these, 18% were treated in resuscitation, while 6% required mechanical ventilation due to breathing difficulties.
A study published in the Lancet estimated that in 2018, HMPV caused 643,000 hospital admissions and 16,100 deaths worldwide among children younger than 5 years.
Also unlike COVID, HMPV has been around for decades. Carr, the virologist at Flinders University, explained that with the outbreak of COVID-19, “the virus was completely new to humans and emerged from an animal spread and spread to pandemic levels because there was no previous exposure or protective immunity in the community. “
HMPV, which belongs to the same family of viruses as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), is believed to have originated in a bird species centuries ago, but was not discovered until 2021.
However, as CNN reported, an analysis of blood samples from the 1950s suggests the virus has been circulating among humans for at least half a century.
Cases usually increase in January, peak in March and April, then decline as the weather warms in May. According to experts, the severity of HMPV cases varies every year.
The increase in HMPV cases in the US in 2023 may have been due to people having less immunity after years of wearing masks and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Similarly, experts posit that China’s prolonged COVID lockdown significantly reduced exposure to HMPV, presumably making people more susceptible to infection during the recent surge.
Most people with an HMPV infection get better after a few days of rest, fluids and over-the-counter decongestants and pain medications.
There is currently no cure or vaccine for HMVP.
Doctors recommend the usual measures against HMPV and other respiratory viruses: washing your hands regularly, avoiding sick people and staying home if you feel sick.
#truth #HMPV #panic #compares #COVID
Image Source : nypost.com