A surge in cases of HMPV (human metapneumovirus) has raised fears of another Covid-19 style pandemic after harrowing images in China show children in hospital beds needing urgent treatment
A leading health expert believes the rise in HMPV cases in China “won’t cause a new global pandemic” – but there “absolutely” will be one in the next 15 years.
A surge in cases of HMPV (human metapneumovirus) has raised fears of another Covid-19 style pandemic after harrowing images in China showed children in hospital beds needing urgent treatment. Some hospitals have become overrun, with many patients wearing masks to help slow the spread of the virus.
However, experts have pointed out HMPV is not a new virus and certainly isn’t like Covid. Health officials said China and other countries are experiencing the seasonal flu-like HMPV increase that is normally seen in winter. The respiratory infection thrives during late winter and spring due to the cold and can easily move from one person to another as people spend more time indoors together. The current spike in northen China has coincided with low temperatures which are due to last until March.
Dr Irene Lai, Global Medical Director, at International SOS, has urged caution about the spread of HMPV which was first discovered in 2001.
Dr Lai said: “So firstly, there is no new virus. Everything that we’re seeing is a normal respiratory season in China, as in elsewhere, respiratory illness season, which is caused by many different viruses, including one that is being talked about, which is called human metapneumovirus, HMPV. Now this virus itself is not new. It is relatively new in terms of it’s being studied because it was only discovered as a new virus in 2001 but when we look back at it, it’s probably been causing illness for over 50 years.
“Only some jurisdictions are now including it in their surveillance and their reporting. So in many places, even though they’ve had this virus around for many years, causing illness, it hasn’t been tested for and it’s not reported on.
“So as the news has cropped up about this outbreak in China, many of the Ministries of Health are putting out information to their citizens to say, hey, we know about this disease. Yes, we have a couple of cases that we’ve detected in our country. We’ve had it before. We’ve seen it before. Our hospitals, our healthcare systems, we’re geared up to cope with the seasonal flu, seasonal respiratory illness that we all usually see around wintertime.”
The US is also experiencing a surge in cases but although it is “concerning” it is normal for this time of year, according to Jacqueline Stephens, an epidemiologist at Flinders University in Australia. “While this is concerning, the increased prevalence is likely the normal seasonal increase seen in winter,” she said.
Dr Lai believes another pandemic will “absolutely” occur in the next 15 years it won’t be due to HMPV. The expert added: “[I]s there a risk for another pandemic? Well, yes, absolutely. And I did state in our Risk Outlook that I felt that another pandemic might occur in the next 15 years. But will it be due to HMPV? No, it won’t.”
