Rates of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) have been on the rise in China as well as the UK, but doctors insist there remains uncertainty from Chinese officials over how serious the disease is
Brit doctors have been pleading for transparency over HMPV rates as wards see a worrying rise in cases.
Human metapneumovirus is a virus with symptoms similar to a cold, including a cough, fever and blocked or runny nose, and has been on the rise in parts of China. Rates of the virus have also been rising in the UK amidst a major winter flu crisis which has seen NHS wards overwhelmed.
Leading virus expert Dr Andrew Catchpole said that there was currently not enough information from Chinese public health authorities over the impacts of the virus. While Beijing has confirmed there is currently a HMPV problem, specific details on case rates and the spread of the virus are less clear.
Dr Catchpole, Chief Scientific Officer at testing firm hVIVO, said: “We need more information on the specific strain that is circulating to start to understand if this is the usual circulating strains or if the virus causing high infection rates in China has some differences.”
He added: “It is unclear just how high the numbers are or if issues are arising purely due to coinciding with high flu and Covid levels.” Dr Catchpole has also added, however, that the virus was known to “mutate and change over time with new strains emerging”, adding it was “not a virus considered to have pandemic potential”.
Pictures from China have showed hospitals apparently overwhelmed with patients, many of whom were being treated in corridors, amidst rising cases, particularly in northern provinces. Cases have been recorded rising in countries including India, the US, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, although the CDC has said it was monitoring the virus, but did not consider it a serious threat.
HMPV can in rare instances lead to more serious illness or even death, particularly among children under the age of two, the elderly or those who have weakened immune systems, such as chemotherapy patients. It comes amidst spiralling winter flu cases in UK hospitals which have prompted several hospital trusts to declare critical incidents.
Around 5,000 patients are currently in hospitals in England with flu, according to NHS data. Around 10 to 12% of respiratory illnesses in children are by HMPV, however.
Trusts in Northamptonshire, Cornwall, Liverpool, Hampshire, Birmingham, Plymouth and the Wirral have all declared, while South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust declared on Wednesday. NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care Professor Julian Redhead warned it was too early to say whether flu cases had yet peaked, as most schools had only gone back this week.
“We have pressure in emergency care all year round but the winter, with the added pressures of flu and other viruses, really makes that a really stark feeling of pressure,” Prof Redhead said.
