Reports have emerged that patients aged from their 50s to 70s in China testing positive for HMPV are going on to develop potentially deadly pneumonia just three to five days later
Fresh fears have emerged about the threat of the ‘mystery’ virus that’s been dubbed HMPV amid reports that patients are developing potentially deadly pneumonia in days.
HMPV is the driving force behind a huge wave of hospitalisations in China, with reports of cases rising across the globe. Now, it has been claimed that middle-aged patients testing positive for the virus are going on to develop pneumonia “between three and five days later”, according to unconfirmed reports.
Users on the Chinese social media app Weibo have been making claims about the outbreak of the ‘mystery’ virus, with one saying according to the YouTube channel Decoding China, the wave was “worse than in 2022” with claims children have been dying from a sudden drop in heart rate. The mention of 2022 refers to a significant Covid outbreak in Shanghai in February 2022 as the Omicron variant led to mass testing and strict lockdowns.
According to the YouTube video report, a pulmonologist, specialist in respiratory disease, claimed patients aged 50 to 70 were testing positive for influenza and experiencing rapid deterioration of their lung conditions before going on to develop pneumonia in three to five days. However, reports of the state of the HMPV outbreak in China are tough to verify as Chinese authority have kept quiet when it comes to figures for both case numbers and deaths.
Fears over the new virus first surfaced in early January as footage emerged from Chinese hospitals, purportedly showing them overrun with patients in face masks appearing to crowd A&Es – drawing comparisons to the early days of the Covid outbreak. Local media reports blamed the spike in respiratory illness on hMPV, human metapneumovirus, a lesser-known but not uncommon bug that usually causes mild cold-like illness.
As a respiratory infection, one of the major risks of hMPV is pneumonia, which can be potentially fatal – especially to the very young, elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. Experts across the globe have called on Chinese authorities to reveal cruicial details of the outbreak, especially as cases began to rise in the UK and US.
“Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season… The diseases appear to be less severe and spread with a smaller scale compared to the previous year,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at the start of January. However, figures from the UK show the spread and growth of hMPV in the last month.
According to UK surveillance data, around one in 20 non-flu respiratory infections are now due to hMPV, more than double the figures from early December. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported yesterday that one in 50 Americans with a cough likely had the virus, an increase of 25 per cent in the space of a week.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has attempted to stop uncertainty from spiralling, adding that the situation in China was “not unusual”. In a statement on January 7, the WHO said: “The observed increase in respiratory pathogen detections is within the range expected for this time of year during the Northern hemisphere winter. In China, influenza is the most commonly detected respiratory pathogen currently affecting people with acute respiratory infections.
“WHO 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. WHO continues to monitor respiratory illnesses at global, regional and country levels through collaborative surveillance systems, and provides updates as needed.