The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has urged the public not to panic about reported cases of the HMPV virus spreading in China. This is amid alarmist social media posts and misinformation spreading online. Cases of human metapneumovirus – or HMPV – have surged in parts of China over the last few weeks, raising fears of another Covid-19-style pandemic.
However, the NICD says this commonly occurring virus causes respiratory illness and is in the same family of viruses as the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). HMPV is detected all year round in South Africa as one of the regular seasonal respiratory viruses.
The NICD’s Prof Cheryl Cohen:
The virus is transmitted through respiratory droplets, much like RSV and influenza. HMPV is mostly associated with mild upper respiratory tract symptoms such as cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, and possibly a fever. In most cases, these symptoms resolve within a few days. Sometimes, HMPV may also cause infection in the lower respiratory tract (bronchitis/bronchiolitis or pneumonia). HMPV is typically detected less commonly among patients presenting for care with respiratory illness than influenza or RSV, but this can vary depending on the time of year.
She says people who are at risk of the virus are infants who are under six months of age (specifically those who are born prematurely), older people, people with comorbidities such as chronic lung and heart disease, those with conditions that affect the immune system (such as HIV), and people with diabetes are at increased risk of developing severe illness.
As with most respiratory viral illnesses, there is no specific treatment for HMPV.
Treatment of a mild illness caused by the virus would include symptomatic relief (rest, medicines for pain and fever). People should also remain at home while ill to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses (the same advice is given for influenza).
Should symptoms not resolve within 3-5 days or become severe (difficulty breathing, fever not settling), people should seek care at a clinic or general practitioner. More severe illnesses would be managed supportively with admission to the hospital for monitoring, supplementary oxygen, and fluids as needed.
Vaccines for HMPV are in the late stages of development. There is also a combination vaccine (for HMPV and RSV) in development. These will likely be available in the next few years.
In case of an outbreak, the NICD has robust surveillance systems across South Africa, which will be able to detect an increase in respiratory pathogen circulation, and our laboratory has the capability to test for HMPV and other respiratory viruses. Many private laboratories in South Africa can also test for HMPV and other respiratory viruses.
