CDC monitors possible HMPV spike in China

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is closely monitoring reports of an increase in human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China.

HMPV, discovered in 2001, is common but underdiagnosed because of its similarities to the common cold, according to the CDC.

Virus cases in the United States are at “pre-pandemic” levels and are not “a cause for concern” at the moment, but there is a significant spike in northern China, particularly among children 14 and under, according to media reports. in Beijing.

Chinese government officials said the reported spike coincides with seasonal illness and appears to be less severe than in other years.

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“Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Dr. Eileen Schneider, a medical epidemiologist in the CDC’s Division of Viral Diseases, said HMPV is “associated with approximately 20,000 hospitalizations in children younger than 5 years.”

The virus can also be a source of concern among “elderly people and immunocompromised patients.”

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Schneider said the presentation of HMPV is usually mild and can include respiratory symptoms such as cough, fever and nasal congestion.

“Symptoms are often clinically indistinguishable from infection with other common respiratory viruses, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus,” she said.

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There is currently no vaccine or cure for the virus, the CDC said, but the infection usually improves with rest, fluid intake and over-the-counter medications.