Reports that a “mysterious” covid-like virus is overwhelming Chinese hospitals have made international headlines. Is human metapneumovirus (HMPV) a common winter bug that is following an expected seasonal outbreak pattern or something more serious?
Could it be the next pandemic?
That is extremely unlikely. HMPV is not a new virus like SARS-CoV-2 and has been circulating in its current form for decades.12 The Dutch researchers who first isolated it in 2001 found antibodies in almost all of the children they tested aged 5 and older.3
Unlike respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), from which it is almost clinically indistinguishable, there is no vaccine against HMPV. But patients usually recover after a few days of mild illness. Immune treatment and antivirals are occasionally used, but bed rest and fluids are the primary treatment.
HMPV can be more serious in infants, elderly people, and people who are immunocompromised, who may develop bronchiolitis or pneumonia. It kills at about the rate of RSV and influenza, with higher death rates among infants in low income and lower middle income countries.
Experts say that the virus has limited epidemic potential.1 But …