A surge in hospitalisations from human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China is causing concern, with social media users on the Chinese app Weibo sharing images of overcrowded hospitals over the past month.
The YouTube channel Decoding China has suggested that this apparent outbreak is “worse than 2022”, referring to the period when the Covid Omicron variant led to stringent lockdown measures and thousands of fatalities in the country. One video reposted on the platform claims that patients aged between 50 and 60 have tested positive for the virus, developing pneumonia and needing hospital care within three to five days.
While HMPV, a respiratory disease, shares many symptoms with COVID-19 – including congestion, fever, and a persistent cough – it is not a ‘novel’ virus, and becomes more prevalent in different countries at certain times of the year. Most cases of HMPV are mild, but in some cases the virus can lead to complications including pneumonia and bronchitis, particularly in elderly and immunocompromised people.
Hospitals in China have been overwhelmed with seasonal HMPV cases
(Image: (Image: Decoding China/YouTube))
An influx of alarming images showing hospitals filled with masked patients has been posted by Weibo users, stoking fears that the virus poses a similar threat to Covid-19. However, a researcher at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Wang Liping, revealed during a press briefing by China’s National Health Commission that case numbers were starting to decrease, reports the Express.
Accoding to AP News, he said: “At present, the rate of positive cases in HMPV detection is fluctuating and the rate of positive cases in northern provinces is declining.” Gao Xinqiang, deputy director of the commission’s Department of Medical Emergency Response, also dismissed claims that the situation was as bad as the peak of the Covid-19 crisis.
“There is no obvious shortage of medical resources,” he stated, adding that the increase in illnesses across China was due to known pathogens rather than any new infectious viruses. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also stated that the rise in HMPV cases in China is “within the range expected for this time of year during Northern Hemisphere weather”.
HMPV was first discovered in the Netherlands in 2001 and is very similar to flu in the vast majority of cases, spreading through droplets and contaminated surfaces. Dr Andrew Catchpole, chief scientific officer at the research organisation hVIVO, told the global health partnership GAVI: “While HMPV does mutate and change over time with new strains emerging, it is not a virus that we consider to have pandemic potential. This is because the changes in HMPV are gradual and based on previously circulating strains. Pandemics occur when a totally new virus enters the human population, like for Covid-19.”
According to the latest figures from the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), there’s been an uptick in HMPV cases in the UK since mid-December. However, health officials reassure that these numbers are typical for this season and aren’t considered a major public health threat.
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