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Currently, there is a lot of concern about the surge in infections and hospitalizations caused by a "new" virus called human MetaPneumoVirus (HMPV) in China, with a lot of reports on social media as well as mainstream media about the possibility of a similar scenario in India too. This page seeks to provide factual, background as well as updated information on the Indian scenario regarding this virus.
Key Points
1. It is not a new virus. It was first identified way back in 2001 in the Netherlands and is now very well known to be a common cause of respiratory tract infection all over the world, all around the year, with cases peaking in late winter and spring seasons. About 6% of all respiratory infections all over the world are caused by this virus. The infection is so common that possibly everyone suffers from the virus at some point in life!!
2. Commonly, this virus just causes a runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, coughing, and fever that usually settles on its own in a few days, even with basic home remedies and hydration, rest, and paracetamol. However, a small percentage of people, especially those with lower immunity levels (like those at extremes of age: under 5 years of age and senior citizens; those on medicines or diseases that severely impact immunity) can have a more severe form and hospitalization may be required. Mortality is rare.
3. The preventive measures are usual as for any other respiratory infection: cough etiquette (covering mouth and nose with tissue/ elbow while coughing/ sneezing), use of mask, frequent hand washing, avoiding frequent touching nose/ eyes/mouth, avoiding close contact with persons showing respiratory symptoms, avoiding crowded places, especially during the surge in cases, etc.
4. No specific vaccine is available against this virus.
5. Is this matter been overhyped? It is possible and the following factors are possibly responsible for the current situation of increased concern
a. The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated all-around crises/ disruptions (medical, social, financial) are in recent public memory. Whenever any apparent "new" viral name crops up, the media, public, political leadership, everyone starts correlating with the pandemic and everyone wants to be proactive to prevent any recurrence of that sort. The fact that COVID-19 also originated in China and the initial reports of HMPV in late 2024 also came from there exaggerated these concerns. But the fact remains that the surge in winter months is an annual global phenomenon. In fact, analysis of data from China and even India shows that the cases in 2024 are fewer than in 2023! A published study from reputed JIPMER, Puducherry showed that there was an outbreak of HMPV in India between November 2022 and March 2023. This never caught public attention somehow!!
b. Pace of Research on respiratory viruses has increased manifold in recent years. The diagnostics have also improved and scaled up, bringing down the cost significantly in recent years. The specific tests to detect specific viruses that were available only in high-end research laboratories till a few years back are now available in routine clinical laboratories and hospitals. Thus, it is now possible to diagnose which specific virus is causing the respiratory symptoms with these tests: the same symptoms can be due to any of several viruses (RSV, Influenza virus, HMPV, Adenovirus, Rhinoviruses, Common-cold Coronaviruses, SARS-CoV2, etc.). Thus from here on we will always be coming across increasing reports of all these viruses as and when they surge, as they all demonstrate seasonal and longer duration cyclical patterns. So, the current situation is because of both: increased cases (winter seasonal surge) and improved detection of the viruses that was difficult till in recent past.
(Updated on 11th January, 2025)
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# HMPV (Human MetaPneumoVirus)