HMPV: need to stay vigilant

A new virus, similar to Covid-19, has sparked global attention. The human metapneumovirus, or HMPV - breaking out in China where hospitals are overwhelmed with individuals struggling with respiratory illnesses - is raising concerns among health experts in many parts of the world. While Malaysia too has reported a significant increase in HMPV cases, what should alert the authorities in Pakistan is that the virus has reached India as well. At least three HMPV cases have been reported in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, the Indian states of Karnataka and Gujarat respectively. The situation led the relevant authorities in India into an urgent huddle, but they have assured their public that there is no immediate cause for alarm.

Like Covid-19, HMPV also causes respiratory symptoms such as cough, fever, sore throat, congestion and shortness of breath. However, 'HMPV typically peaks during winter and spring, unlike Covid-19, which can spread year-round due to its evolving variants'. But this should not lull the healthcare administrators the world over into complacency, more so because no vaccine is available to treat this lesser-known virus, and prevention and symptomatic treatment is just what can be resorted to. The WHO needs to take steps to monitor the situation and issue guidelines on how to prevent the spread of the virus as well as an official word on how the affliction from HMPV is different from common cold and influenza.

The authorities in Pakistan should therefore stay vigilant, if not alarmed, and be in a state of preparedness for any emergency from HMPV that has hit the globe five years after the Covid-19 pandemic had infected a total of 700 million people worldwide and caused 7 million reported deaths while literally shutting the whole world for much of the time between March 2020 and May 2023.