One telltale symptom which may very well be an indication of thriller Chinese HMPV virus
Health experts have warned about the symptoms of the HMPV virus after another outbreak – and one of the earliest symptoms to look out for could be a rash on your skin
Cases of what is thought to be human metapneumovirus (HMPV) have been reportedly wreaking havoc across China.
As images of packed-out hospitals full of masked patients, including children, have surfaced online, alarm bells have been raised about the mysterious virus.
It’s thought that for most people the virus leads to a mild upper respiratory tract infection and is almost indistinguishable from the flu.
Interestingly, NHS data shows that cases of the flu have surged across England in what has been described as a ‘tidal wave’ of illnesses—from COVID-19 to RSV, flu, and norovirus.
HMPV cases are also on the rise in the UK, according to the latest data from the UK Health & Security Agency (UKHSA), despite experts claiming there is currently no sign of ‘a serious global issue.’.
An infectious diseases specialist in Singapore, Dr. Hsu Li Yang, says: “If infected, a small but significant proportion of immunocompromised people can develop more severe disease where the lungs are affected, with wheezing, breathlessness, and symptoms of croup. Many will require hospital care, with a smaller proportion at risk of dying from the infection.”
Symptoms of the virus to look out for include having a cough, fever, nasal congestion, sore throat, and shortness of breath, but the earliest sign of infection is a rash on the skin, experts explain.
In a 2004 report by Dutch researchers, analysing over a dozen surveys and study groups on the virus, signs of a rash on the chest, abdomen, pelvis, and back were found. This type of rash is one of the main signifiers that differentiates the HPV virus from a common cold.
Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, Prof. Sir Andrew Pollard, spoke on the matter last week. He said: “The reports of respiratory infections in China in the past few days appear to be attributed to both influenza and this human metapneumovirus, which is rather similar to the situation in the UK this week.”
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