UK skilled makes China thriller virus HMPV data request over pandemic fears

A top medical research boffin has said more information is needed on the HMPV strain impacting China at the moment and ‘if the virus causing high infection rates’ has differences

Experts have called for monitoring of the spread of the human metapneumovirus (hMPV) amid concerns over an outbreak in China.

Top boffin at the London-based research organisation hVIVO, Dr Andrew Catchpole, said that “more information on the specific strain” is required. Data on the virus outbreak is also limited due to Chinese authorities keeping shtum on the matter.

It is unclear how many people have been infected with the virus, but boffins have been quick to downplay its potential impact on the UK, stressing it is very unlikely to have effects akin to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Catchpole, hVIVO’s chief scientific officer said according to the Evening Standard: “HMPV is usually detected in the winter periods but it does seem that the rates of serious infection may be higher in China than what we would expect in a normal year.

“We need more information on the specific strain that is circulating to start to understand if this is the usual circulating strains or if the virus causing high infection rates in China has some differences.”

Imperial College London professor in vaccine immunology, John Tregoning, said HMPV is “part of the cocktail of winter viruses that we are exposed to” and there will be a “range of symptoms and severity”.

There isn’t a huge cause for concern in the UK just yet. UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data reveals that the rate doubled in the UK within a fortnight.

The UKHSA has reported that the percentage of respiratory problems in hospital testing positive for this potentially lethal illness stood at 4.53% in the week leading up to December 23 – the most recent statistics available.

However, the actual figure is likely higher. In comparison, the percentage was at 2.42% in the week leading up to December 9 earlier in the month, the Mirror reports.

Symptoms of HMPV are generally mild and similar to the common cold. A person with HMPV may experience a cough, temperature, sore throat, wheezing and a runny nose.

But more severe cases of HMPV may develop into pneumonia or bronchitis and appear to be more likely to occur in older people, people who already have underlying conditions, those with weaker immune symptoms as well as babies and younger children.

Children seem particularly vulnerable, with children’s hospitals across China reportedly overcrowded with children with symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, weakness and dizziness.

Identified in 2001, HMPV comes from the same family as measles and mumps. Although first formally discovered in 2001, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it’s thought the virus has been widespread since at least the mid 1950s.

In addition to the above symptoms, HMPV can lead to bronchitis and pneumonia. Just like Covid-19, HMPV can be contracted through sneezing, coughing and maintaining close personal contact with an infected person.

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