In December 2024, China began reporting a surge in cases of the human metapneumovirus (HMPV). The country’s Centre for Disease Control (CDC) warned people to take precautions with health and hygiene. Cases of the virus have also been reported in India.
Since news of the surge broke out, there has been global concern, with many expressing worries that HMPV may be COVID-like or another variant that may result in another pandemic.
Here is what you should know about HMPV.
WHAT IS HMPV?
HMPV, first reported in 2001 in the Netherlands, is a single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus that causes symptoms similar to the common cold and influenza.
The virus causes severe complications like pneumonia in infants, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems.
Symptoms include cough, fever, nasal congestion, and fatigue, with an incubation period of three to six days.
Like other common cold viruses, it spreads through infectious respiratory particles that pass through the air from a sick person to others. This means a person can catch the virus when they are close to a sick person or sharing a closed space with them.
It can also enter the body by touching contaminated surfaces like doorknobs or handles and then touching the eyes, nose, or mouth.
HAS CHINA DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY?
Reports of the HMPV in China have resulted in several claims on social media, one of which is that the virus has prompted China to declare a state of emergency.
However, at the time of this report, there has been no official statement from Chinese authorities about a state of emergency in response to the increases in HMPV or any other infectious respiratory disease.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) also recently issued a press release, saying it is in contact with Chinese health officials and “has not received any reports of unusual outbreak patterns”.
“Chinese authorities report that the health care system is not overwhelmed and there have been no emergency declarations or responses triggered,” the statement reads.
IS HMPV ANOTHER COVID VARIANT?
Although both viruses cause respiratory symptoms, HMPV is not COVID-19 and cannot result in a pandemic.
Unlike the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the human metapneumovirus has existed for decades and is not a new virus.
HMPV has been detected in China long before the current cases being reported.
In data on infectious respiratory disease in China between 2009 and 2019, the Chinese CDC ranked the virus the eighth most common viral pathogen in the country. Other respiratory diseases that topped the list included influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and human rhinovirus (HRV).
More recently, between late 2022 and early 2023, the Chinese CDC said about 2.6 percent of the children hospitalised in Beijing tested positive for HMPV.
“There was no obvious epidemic peak,” the Chinese CDC said.
Andrew Catchpole, a virologist and chief scientific officer at a British research organization, said that while HMPV does mutate and change over time, with new strains emerging, it is not a virus with pandemic potential.
“This is because the changes in HMPV are gradual and based on previously circulating strains,” he said
“Pandemics occur when a new virus enters the human population, like for COVID-19, or in the case of influenza, when a totally new variant of the virus enters the human population by combination [of a human and animal] version of the virus from what is known as the animal reservoir. There is no such animal reservoir of related viruses known for HMPV.”
WHY IS HMPV ON THE RISE IN CHINA?
Like many respiratory infections, HMPV is most active during late winter and spring because viruses survive better in the cold.
According to the WHO, in temperate regions, HMPV mainly spreads in late winter and spring, at the same time as other common respiratory viruses such as seasonal flu and RSV.
Data published by the Chinese CDC showed a continuous upward trend in respiratory viral infections, including seasonal influenza, rhinovirus, RSV, and HMPV, in the final weeks of the year, particularly in northern provinces of China.
Kan Biao, head of the China CDC’s National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, said during a press conference that cases of infectious respiratory diseases are expected through winter and spring.
“The observed increase in respiratory pathogen detections is within the range expected for this time of year during the Northern hemisphere winter,” he said.
“Judging from the current situation, the scale and intensity of the spread of infectious respiratory diseases this year would be less severe than that of last year.”
PREVENTIVE MEASURES
- Precautions to lower the risk of contracting HMPV and other respiratory infections include:
- Wearing masks in crowded places.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Regular washing of hands and disposing of used tissues appropriately.
- Cleaning frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs regularly.
- Staying at home when sick to prevent spreading the virus.
Currently, there is no vaccine to treat HMPV. Treatment focuses on management of symptoms.
