Virus fuels pandemic fears China is on the rise in parts of the American Midwest, according to official data.
Infections caused by Human metapneumovirus (HPMV) are three times higher in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska And Iowa than the American national average. It is estimated that more than 1 in 20 people in these states who cough have the virus.
CDC data shows 5.4 percent of tests conducted in the region in the last week of December came back positive for HMPV, up from 1.9 in the rest of America.
HMPV, which some doctors refer to as “the most important virus you’ve never heard of”, was partly blamed on a viral outbreak in China that reportedly overwhelmed hospitals in the country’s northern provinces.
But Beijing and the World Health Organization have downplayed images of overcrowded waiting rooms and wards was posted on Chinese social media, claiming that the outbreak in the country is “not unusual” for winter and is in fact “smaller in scale” compared to last year.
The situation has led to some similarities with the Covid outbreak in 2019, initially downplayed by China, but experts say they are entirely different.
HMPV is much milder than the initial strain of Covid, and because it has been around for decades, the population already has immunity to it.
However, it can be fatal for children and immunocompromised patients like Diane Davison60-year-old Maryland lawyer left “unable to speak” due to “violent” coughing fits.
MIDWEST SURGE: Region 7, which covers Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, is experiencing extremely high rates of HMPV compared to the rest of the country.
This map shows how the CDC breaks down different regions of the United States for its weekly distribution of respiratory infections.
THE World Health Organization said in a statement Tuesday that it had been in contact with Chinese health authorities, who have not noticed any unusual outbreak patterns.
The WHO said: “The observed increase in acute respiratory infections and associated pathogen detections in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere in recent weeks is expected at this time of year and is not not unusual. »
HMPV first appeared in 2001 and usually causes cold symptoms like cough, fever and runny nose.
But more serious symptoms such as bronchitis, bronchiolitis and pneumonia can occur, with shortness of breath, severe cough or wheezing.
According to the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS), a CDC database, the area with the second highest rate of HMPV in the United States was Region 5.
This area includes Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
An estimated 2.2 percent of the 2,270 HMPV tests carried out in the region came back positive during the week of December 28, meaning around one in 50 people with a respiratory illness carry the virus .
Regions 8 and 9 are tied for third highest HMPV rates, with 2% test positivity out of 1,168 and 354 tests, respectively.
These regions include Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Montana.
Regions 1 and 2 had the lowest test positivity rates at 0.9 percent. These areas include northeastern states like Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
Region 1 has conducted 2,270 tests while Region 2 has conducted 1,855.
Overall, the data shows positive test results for HMPV are twice as high in the United States now compared to this time last year, but cases remain low and the CDC says it’s nothing out of the ordinary.
In the last week of December, there were only 300 positive cases in the United States nationwide.
Tens of thousands of Americans contract HMPV each year, but few become sick enough to need treatment and testing.
The rise of HMPV has drawn comparisons to the early days of the Covid pandemic. Pictured here is a group of voters voting early in the 2020 election.
Experts have warned that HMPV, which produces flu-like symptoms, can lurk in the body for days and can therefore be easily transmitted to others.
A spokesperson for the US CDC told Nexstar that the agency was monitoring the situation in China and that “these reports are not currently a cause for concern in the United States.”
Children, the elderly and immunocompromised patients are most at risk of serious complications.
Researchers estimate that one in ten respiratory illnesses among American children is caused by HMPV. In the United States, approximately 20,000 children under the age of five are hospitalized each year due to HMPV.
Because the virus is generally mild, its exact mortality rate is unknown. But experts estimate that between 10 and 30 percent of hospitalized HMPV patients die in the United States.
There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the disease.
