15/01/2025
Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV): A Looming Global Threat or a False Alarm: My take.
Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the world faces another threat from another virus, namely HMPV. Several factors have made the global community quite concerned about the situation. Hospitals in China are crowded with patients wearing masks and coughing, and videos on social media depict scary scenes. These scenes resemble those seen in China before the COVID-19 pandemic erupted from Wuhan, China. Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) is believed to cause these respiratory infections. Both SARS-CoV-2 and HMPV share many common features, which include:
1. Both are RNA viruses.
2. Both viruses can mutate, and new strains emerge.
3. The mode of transmission is similar.
4. Both show seasonal trends with higher occurrence in winter and early spring.
5. Both cause Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and tend to cause severe illness in the elderly and immunocompromised.
6. As happened with SARS-CoV-2 in 2019, cases of HMPV have been detected in several neighboring countries, including India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Kazakhstan.
However, critical evaluation shows significant differences between SARS-CoV-2 and HMPV. SARS-CoV-2 was a new virus introduced in humans with no previous exposure and immunity. HMPV was discovered in 2001 but has been shown to exist at least 50 years before that. Children under five years old have HMPV antibodies and thus have partial immunity against re-infection. Therefore, the risk of a pandemic from HMPV is low.
HMPV mutates and changes over time, with new strains emerging; the changes are gradual and based on previously circulating strains. Pandemics occur when a new virus enters the human population, like SARS-CoV-2, or in the case of influenza, when a new strain of the virus emerges that can spread quickly from person to person and for which humans have little or no immunity. There is no such possibility with HMPV.
Though social media has extensively covered the situation in China, the official reports from the China CDC and Government were utterly different. China acknowledged a surge caused by seasonal influenza, rhinovirus, RSV, HMPV, and mycoplasma pneumonia, particularly in north China. The authorities refuted the occurrence of an unusual outbreak, overwhelmed healthcare and emergency declaration or responses, and reported that hospital utilization is lower than last year. WHO continues to monitor respiratory illnesses at global and country levels and has not found any unusual outbreak pattern in China.
As mentioned above, the diagnosis of HMPV in several countries should not be a concern. ARIs show a seasonal trend in the north during winter and early spring. Several viruses cause such infections, and HMPV significantly contributes to them. So, surveillance will detect HMPV in cases of ARIs in most countries.
What is the way forward? Most epidemiologists believe not to ring the alarm bell. However, countries need to move forward and take advantage of opportunities to be prepared for any eventuality. As in the COVID-19 pandemic, the most important thing is to have surveillance and testing facilities. Any outbreak, even if seasonal, must be reported and preventive measures implemented. Also, public education and advice need to be strengthened so that unnecessary panic can be controlled.
Read the full story at: https://kashmirlife.net/human-metapneumovirus-hmpv-a-looming-global-threat-or-a-false-alarm-379752/
