'Covid-like' virus HMPV sparks new scare in China

Worrying reports and social media posts emerging from China are documenting how hospitals and crematories are overflowing with patients infected by respiratory illnesses, in particular the human metapneumovirus (HMPV), spreading rapidly through the populace.

HMPV reportedly mimics flu and Covid-19 symptoms, can infect people of all ages. However, it is most common in children. No vaccine exists for HMPV, as of now, despite the virus being detected first in 2001 and having existed even longer — approximately 60 years — as per serological studies.

Healthcare professionals are therefore emphasising preventive care above all else. Authorities are keeping a close watch on the situation in China, announcing a pilot monitoring system for pneumonia of 'unknown origin', as per an Economic Times report. Reuters has also reported that as respiratory diseases are expected to rise in the winter season, protocols for handling unknown pathogens are in place — a welcome contrast to the early Covid-19 response.

Another aspect being highlighted by social media posts is that overcrowded hospitals are dealing with patients with different types of viruses, from influenza A, Mycoplasma pneumoniae to HMPV and Covid-19. This means there is a risk of patients being infected by multiple viruses, complicating treatment and containment protocols and increasing the risk of mutations in the virus strains.

So far, however, neither Chinese officials nor the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a state of emergency.

According to an NDTV report, the Chinese Center for Disease Control (China CDC) has confirmed that northern China is the worst affected with the HMPV virus rapidly spreading across the region, affecting mostly children below the age of 14.

According to China CDC, human metapneumovirus (HMPV), belonging to the Pneumoviridae, Metapneumovirus genus, is an enveloped single-stranded negative-sense RNA virus.

It primarily affects children, the elderly, and individuals with weakened immune systems — something it has in common with Covid-19.

It often mimics symptoms of the common cold or flu, such as fever, cough, and nasal congestion, resulting in bronchitis and pneumonia in severe cases and death in immuno-compromised patients with other underlying medical conditions.

Treatment is limited to only alleviating symptoms.