New Delhi, January 3 (IANS). Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, China is currently battling the new virus, human metapneumovirus (HMPV).
Many media reports and social media posts are claiming that the virus is spreading rapidly in the country. Some claimed that crowding at hospitals and crematoriums was increasing.
Videos shared online show overcrowding in hospitals, with some social media users saying multiple viruses are spreading, including influenza A, HMPV, mycoplasma pneumonia and Covid.
The report claims that the rise in HMPV cases has led to a worrying rise in sudden death rates, and people aged between 40 and 80 are particularly affected.
“China is confronting multiple viruses, including influenza A, HMPV, mycoplasma pneumoniae and COVID-19, which is overwhelming hospitals and hospitals,” said a post on social media platform X with the handle SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The burden on crematoriums has increased. Children are being admitted to hospitals. Pneumonia is increasing in children and cases of ‘white lung’ are also coming to light.
The positive rate of hMPV among cases aged 14 and under has recently increased, according to Chinese CDC data from late December, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Young children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems are more affected by the HMPV virus.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), common symptoms associated with HMPV include cough, fever, nasal congestion, and trouble breathing.
According to CCTV reports, Li Tongzheng, chief physician of the Department of Respiratory and Infectious Diseases of Beijing Yuan Hospital, Capital Medical University, said that HMPV can spread between two people through the respiratory system, and contact between people such as shaking hands. , or touching an object contaminated with the virus, etc.
To protect against this virus, it is important to wear a mask, wash hands frequently and increase immunity.
Experts are also reluctant to use antivirals for HMPV.
In a recent interview with the state-backed National Business Daily, a respiratory specialist at a hospital in Shanghai warned people against blindly using antiviral drugs to fight human metapneumovirus.
At present there is no vaccine for it, but its symptoms are like cold and cough.
In 2023, hMPV was detected in the Netherlands, UK, Finland, Australia, Canada, the US, and China.
–IANS
DKM/KR
