The number of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) has increased in China as well as in the UK, but doctors insist there is still uncertainty from Chinese officials about the severity of the disease
British doctors have appealed for transparency into HMPV rates as wards see a worrying rise in cases.
Human metapneumovirus is a virus with symptoms similar to a coldincluding cough, fever and stuffy or runny nose, and has increased in parts of China. The number of viruses has also increased in the UK amid a major winter flu crisis that has seen NHS departments overwhelmed.
Leading virus expert Dr Andrew Catchpole said there was currently insufficient information from Chinese public health authorities about the impact of the virus. Although Beijing has confirmed that there is currently an HMPV problem, specific details about case rates and the spread of the virus are less clear.
Dr Catchpole, Chief Scientific Officer at testing company hVIVO, said: “We need more information about the specific strain circulating to begin to understand whether these are the common circulating strains or whether the virus causing high infection rates in China has some differences.”
He added: “It is unclear how high the numbers are or if problems are arising simply because they coincide with high flu and Covid levels.” Dr Catchpole has also added that the virus was known to “mutate and change over time with new strains emerging”, adding that it was “not a virus considered to have pandemic potential”.
Pictures from China have shown hospital apparently overwhelmed by patients, many of whom were treated in corridors, amid rising cases, particularly in northern provinces. Cases have been recorded on the rise in countries including India, the US, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, although the CDC has said it is monitoring the virus, but did not consider it a serious threat.
HMPV can rarely lead to more serious illness or even death, especially among children under two years of age, the elderly, or those who have weakened immune systems, such as chemotherapy patients. It comes amid spiraling cases of winter flu in UK hospitals which has prompted several hospital trusts to declare critical incidents.
Around 5,000 patients are currently in hospital in England with influenzaaccording to NHS data. However, about 10 to 12% of respiratory illnesses in children are from HMPV.
Trusts in Northamptonshire, Cornwall, Liverpool, Hampshire, Birmingham, Plymouth and Wirral have all declared, while South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust declared on Wednesday. NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care Professor Julian Redhead warned it was too early to say whether flu cases had yet peaked, as most schools had only gone back this week.
“We have pressure in A&E all year round but winter, with the added pressure of flu and other viruses, really makes it a really strong sense of pressure,” Prof Redhead said.
