The mysterious HMPV virus starts off like a cold, but can be deadly for some people – and the scary illness potentially mirrors the beginning of the Covid pandemic
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HMPV virus is spiking across China and beyond causing distress for many as the mysterious disease takes hold. Fearful echoes of the Covid times are on the minds of people across the globe as the lesser-known HMPV virus spreads.
Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) was discovered over 20 years ago, but in recent days cases of the illness have been surging. In spring 2023, an American woman caught HMPV and has explained how she found herself “unable to speak”, Diane Davison found herself coughing so violently, she couldn’t even talk on the phone. Diane, aged 59, at first thought she’d picked up Covid as her cough was so chronic and deep.
She tested herself for Covid-19 six times, but they all came back negative. Then her doctor sent her for emergency blood tests which showed she had HMPV.
Entertainment lawyer Diane said: “I couldn’t get out more than a couple of words. I would go into violent, violent coughing to the point where I was literally almost throwing up.”
Similarly to Covid – and other respiratory diseases such as RSV or influenza – HMPV can be mild for some, but deadly for others. People with weaker immune systems can end up with a serious illness if infected.
All this gives us chilling echoes of the first throes of the last global pandemic five years ago.
Back then, coronavirus patient Julie gave a chilling account of what Covid feels like, speaking to The BBC back in March 2020 at the very beginning of the global pandemic. She described her lungs going into overdrive – and struggling to walk to the toilet.
Julie, from Singapore, showed flu-like symptoms with a fever of 38.5C on February 3 2020 – so she took two Panadols before taking a rest.
“I just felt a bit tired and remember sleeping the whole day,” she told BBC 5 Live at the time.
“And then after that, the fever went and the rest of the week I was well. I didn’t even have a sniffle or a cough.”
But five days later, she was told by the doctor that she had tested positive for coronavirus. She was taken to a hospital for quarantine and stayed in the ward by herself, which she described as “four walls with a door”.
She said: “I got my food through a secure hatch, my medication, my change of clothing, my towel. You may have a phone, you can text someone, you may have a video call.”
But she said the quarantine period was the loneliest time through the recovery journey.
Julie said: “I almost felt like I wanted to go knock on the wall and just talk to the other patient next door. Just to have a conversation with a human being.
“When I was going through the critical stage, one of the things I encountered was breathing.
“It felt like my lungs were going into overdrive, they were really making an effort.”
She said that it was very challenging for her to walk to the toilet as everything seemed to be in slow motion. Julie battled Covid for nine days before finally testing negative for coronavirus.
Covid 19 was a completely new virus when it first appeared five years ago. Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is not a new illness, but the recent massive surge in cases is causing public concern.
Initially, the HMPV virus will cause symptoms like a cold, coughing, wheezing, a sore throat and a runny nose or sneezing. But young children and the elderly – or people with other health conditions – can end up with severe complications, such as pneumonia. Globally, respiratory infections are the leading cause of death for children.