The condition has been a problem for some time – after RSV, it was found by one study to be the second most common cause of respiratory infection in children in the US
China: Hospital busy in Shandong amidst virus outbreak
A doctor laid out a chilling warning about mystery virus HMPV more than a year ago. Full name human metapneumovirus, HMPV has been causing tremors around a world that still feels the scar tissue from years of Covid-19. Cases of HMPV have been surging in China since a spike in the spring of 2023 and sees children and the elderly at the greatest risk of infection.
At the time of writing, the condition is said by the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to have filled wards in intensive care. CNN reported that, at its peak in March, there was an 11% positive rate of tested subjects – that’s 4% higher than the seasonal peak for the infection prior to the Covid pandemic.
The condition has been a problem for some time, however. After RSV, it was found by one study to be the second most common cause of respiratory infection in children in the US.
The scars of Covid-19 are still healing (stock) (Image: Getty Images)
It was first discovered by Dutch medics in 2001, although it may have been circulating some time before that. However, last year one doctor raised the alarm about how important this condition is.
Dr. John Williams, a paediatrician at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, is one person who had been following it for some time. The medic noted to CNN how a large number of respiratory conditions in children come from mystery causes.
He described it as “the most important virus you’ve never heard of” and accounts for roughly the same amount of cases as RSV or influenza.
Cases of the condition have spiked with the season (stock) (Image: Getty Images)
“Those are the three major viruses,” he said. “Those are the big three in kids and adults, the most likely to put people in the hospital and cause severe disease, most likely to sweep through nursing homes and make older people really sick and even kill them.”
In a study published in the National Library of Medicine said: “Almost all children are infected by HMPV below the age of five; the repeated infections throughout life indicate transient immunity. HMPV infections usually are mild and self-limiting, but in the frail elderly and the immunocompromised patients, the clinical course can be complicated.”
The condition has led to a surge in the number of hospital admissions in northern Chinese provinces. China has introduced emergency measures to tackle the spike yet, heartbreakingly, it seems to be children bearing the brunt of the infections.
According to a 2023 study published in the National Library of Medicine’s StatPearls “lower respiratory tract infections due to HMPV can lead to pneumonia, bronchiolitis, as well as acute asthma exacerbations,” while the condition “is spread by infectious respiratory droplets”.
Research has been going into the virus for some time (stock) (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Despite the concern, China has noted that respiratory infections do tend to peak around this time of year – however, images of overcrowded waiting rooms have been circulating online.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday: “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.”