After 5 years of Covid crisis, China is dealing with another outbreak of the human metapneumovirus (HMPV). As per social media posts, the virus is spreading rapidly.
A social media post by an X handle known as 'SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19)' wrote, “China Declares State of Emergency as Epidemic Overwhelms Hospitals and Crematoriums. Multiple viruses, including Influenza A, HMPV, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and COVID-19, are spreading rapidly across China.”
However, there is no information to back up the claim that China has declared a state of emergency over epidemics overwhelming the hospitals and crematoriums in the country. Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) have not declared a state of emergency as of now.
What is HMPV?
Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a virus that causes symptoms similar to the common cold. It usually causes upper respiratory infections. However, it can sometimes cause lower respiratory infections like pneumonia, asthma flare-ups or make chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) worse. HMPV infections are more common in the winter.
It is caused by a virus that uses your cells to make more copies of itself. It can get transmitted from one body to another by coughing and sneezing, shaking hands, hugging, touching surfaces or objects like phones, door handles, etc.
Symptoms of HMPV include cough, fever, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, wheezing, shortness of breath (dyspnea) and rash.
This disease can be prevented by washing hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer, covering nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, wearing a mask if sick and avoiding touching your face, eyes, nose and mouth.
In an interview, a respiratory expert at a Shanghai hospital has warned the public against blindly using antiviral drugs to fight human metapneumovirus, for which there is no vaccine but its symptoms resemble to that of common cold.