A steady flow of visitors was seen outside a children's hospital in Beijing's Chaoyang district on Jan 6, during the ongoing flu season.- ST
BEIJING: China is in the midst of a surge in cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, a common virus which can cause respiratory illness and affects children and the elderly more seriously.
Other countries such as Vietnam and India have said that they are monitoring the potential spread. Malaysia on Jan 4 reported a 45 per cent rise in HMPV cases in 2024 from 2023.
Experts said that while the surge is of concern, HMPV is not a new virus and is already present in many countries. It is also unlikely to lead to another pandemic of the scale of Covid-19.
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist of the World Health Organisation, said HMPV is a known virus that causes mostly mild respiratory infections.
“Rather than jump at detection of every pathogen, we should all take normal precautions when we have a cold: Wear a mask, wash hands, avoid crowds, consult a doctor if (there are) severe symptoms,” she said on X on Jan 6.
Notably, winter and spring are peak seasons for HMPV, which was discovered in 2001 and has been in circulation globally since then. In contrast, Covid-19 was a new disease that was unknown to mankind before 2019.
HMPV spreads through droplets that are released by an infected person while coughing or sneezing, close personal contact such as shaking hands, and touching contaminated surfaces.
It can cause severe respiratory disease in people of all ages, especially young children, older adults and others with weakened immune systems.
In China, the authorities did not report specific figures, but said HMPV cases in those under 14 years old rose in late December 2024, with the upward trend more obvious in northern provinces such as Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, which are colder than the south and where viruses tend to survive longer.
The current situation is not unusual in view of the ongoing flu season, according to experts.
Officials have said the causes of the current surge in China are the influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and HMPV – the usual pathogens expected during the season.
There have been signs of heightened public vigilance in China, with more passengers spotted wearing masks on public transport.
However, there do not appear to be widespread fears about an HMPV outbreak in the country.
When The Straits Times visited two local hospitals in Beijing on Jan 6, there was a steady flow of patients, but no long queues, and facilities were not overwhelmed. Visitors there told ST that same-day consultations were “definitely possible”.
In response to the growing rate of acute respiratory infections that is expected to continue in the coming weeks, the authorities across China have advised citizens to wash their hands frequently and avoid crowded places.
According to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest weekly statistics released on Jan 2 on acute respiratory diseases, the incidence of HMPV rose 0.1 percentage point over the previous week to 6.2 per cent.
The centre said HMPV was now among the top three “outpatient flu-like illnesses”, as well as for cases requiring hospitalisation for severe acute respiratory infections.
But influenza was still the most infectious seasonal disease, with its weekly incidence rising by 6.2 percentage points to 30.2 per cent. The statistics are based on regular surveillance of respiratory samples from hospitals in China.
Chinese CDC researcher Zheng Lishu told Xinhua news agency that HMPV is not a new virus strain and should not cause alarm.
“For most people, HMPV infection manifests as a self-limiting disease, and most people’s symptoms gradually ease in about a week,” she said.
Infectious disease expert Hsu Li Yang from the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health in Singapore said the recent rise in HMPV cases in China was unusual in the sense that RSV, a closely related but better known virus, usually affects more people than HMPV.
But otherwise, HMPV is a well-known cause of respiratory tract infections, especially during winter. Thus, the rise in cases in China – especially at just 6 per cent of tested individuals – is not out of the ordinary, he told ST.
He noted that the virus is not new, and that some older studies have shown that anywhere between 50 per cent and 70 per cent of children will have been infected by HMPV by the age of two.
“In terms of the virus causing a major outbreak with a surge of cases, the potential is definitely there. But it will be nowhere near the scale of Covid-19 or influenza,” added Professor Hsu, who is vice-dean of global health at the school. - The Straits Times/ANN
