Few people had heard of human metapneumovirus, or HPMV, until a wave of recent cases in China made headlines.
In fact, the seasonal virus is so common that most people, including U.S. residents, have contracted HPMV without knowing it, Northeast health experts say.
“It is a respiratory disease that can cause cold symptoms like cough, runny nose and sore throat,” explains a pharmacy professor. Brandon Dionne.
“This is a common virus that has been part of the normal respiratory viral season for years,” he says. “It follows the same kind of pattern as our other respiratory viral infections like RSV and the flu.”
“It’s not something new,” says Neil Maniardirector of Northeastern’s master’s in public health program. “This is not the next COVID-like pandemic or anything like that. »
“Data suggests that by the age of 5 or 6, almost everyone has it (HMPV),” explains Samuel ScarpinoNortheast epidemiologist and professor of the practice of health sciences and informatics.
“Almost everyone (understands) during their childhood,” he says.
Why is HMPV making headlines now
Scarpino, who is also director of AI + Life Sciences at Northeastern, calls HMPV “an understudied disease that we don’t test for often.”
This changed in China when the country began testing and detecting HMPV cases.
“A few weeks ago, China announced that it was deploying a new surveillance system for pneumonia of unknown origin,” explains Scarpino.
“They claim – and this seems plausible – that they detect many cases of human metapneumovirus. They intensified their surveillance and thus detected more cases, because they are now looking for them,” he says.
“It’s something that people are going to be watching closely in the global health community, but it’s not setting off alarm bells like it has with COVID,” Scarpino said.
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“At present, there is no sign of a major mutation,” says Dionne.
THE World Health Organization states that the number of HPV cases in China is “within the expected range for this time of year during the Northern Hemisphere winter.”
Although people with severe cases of HPV may be hospitalized for bronchitis or pneumonia, most people recover quickly after infection, according to the WHO.
People most at risk for more serious infection are young infants, the elderly and children with asthma, Scarpino says, adding that “if a healthy adult gets an infection, you might think it’s a cold.”
Dionne says HPMV is similar but less serious to RSV, which was a major cause of death in premature infants until the development of preventive antibody treatment.
Tests of wastewater in some places show levels of HMPV, but the virus is not yet part of standard testing in clinics or hospitals, Northeast experts say.
“There is no vaccine against HMPV, so you have to treat the symptoms,” Maniar explains.
Like RSV and the flu, HMPV is spread through coughing, sneezing and contact with surfaces, then “touching our mouth, eyes or nose,” he says.
Especially this time of year, he says, “It’s important that everyone takes appropriate precautions. Wash your hands properly. A simple hand sanitizer won’t do the job.
“It appears that Moderna has conducted a phase one clinical trial of a common mRNA vaccine against RSV and human metapneumovirus, as well as another focusing only on RSV for pediatric patients,” Dionne said.
A clinical associate professor of pharmacy and health systems sciences who also works at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Dionne says, “Moving from phase one to actual patients is going to take some time. »
