China’s new wave of respiratory infections put countries on alert

A new wave of respiratory infections allegedly stemming from China has alerted countries to braze up for an outbreak that could potentially go global.

Emerging online reports indicate that new human metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases are on the rise, spreading fast.

But the World Health Organisation has not yet confirmed any case, neither has the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China acknowledged an outbreak.

Also, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet raised an alarm over the virus.

According to the China Centre for Disease Control, Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a prevalent pathogen responsible for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) across various age groups, including children, adults, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals.

A study between 2017 and 2023, it found that around 11.1 million cases of acute lower respiratory infections globally were attributable to HMPV, leading to approximately 502,000 hospitalisations and 113,000 deaths.

The most frequently observed clinical manifestations of HMPV infection entail both upper and lower respiratory tract infections.

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HMPV is a single-stranded, negative-sense, non-segmented RNA virus. In 2016, HMPV was reclassified into the Metapneumovirus genus within the family Pneumoviridae.

As of December 2024, China’s disease control authority said it was piloting a monitoring system for pneumonia of unknown origin, with cases of some respiratory diseases expected to rise, according to a Reuters report.

The move to establish a dedicated system is aimed at helping authorities set up protocols to handle unknown pathogens, in contrast to the lower level of preparedness five years ago when the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 first emerged.

India’s Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that it has beefed up its surveillance and is prepared to handle respiratory infections from external sources.