HMPV Not New Virus, Majority Indian Population Immune To It: Experts

Like for any other flu viruses, elderly people, children and people with comor-bidities must take care. There is no need to create panic, and one should stop rumour-mongering in the public -- Harshal R Salve, Addl Prof, Centre for Community Medicine at AIIMS

New Delhi: The Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) is not a new virus and most of the Indian popu-lation are immune to it, said health experts on Monday, even as the number of reported cases climbed to three in the country.

On Monday, health officials in the country reported three cases of HMPV -- babies aged three- and eight-month-old from Bengaluru (Karnataka) and a two-year-old child in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad.

“HMPV is not a new virus. It has been part of the circulating flu virus in India for long. Hence, the majority of the Indian population has developed immunity against it,” Dr Harshal R Salve, Additional Professor, Centre for Community Medicine at AIIMS, New Delhi, told reporters.

He added that the “chances of a severe disease are very rare”.

HMPV was first discovered in 2001 and is part of the Pneumoviridae family along with the Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The symptoms commonly associated with HMPV include cough, fever, nasal congestion, and shortness of breath.

“Like for any other flu viruses, elderly people, children and people with comorbidities must take care. There is no need to create panic, and one should stop rumour-mongering in the public,” Salve said.

The two cases from Karnataka were detected via routine surveillance by ICMR in a 3-month-old girl and an 8-month-old boy. Both had a history of bronchopneumonia -- a form of pneumonia, a lung infection, and were admitted to a private hospital. Bronchopneumonia affects both the alveoli in the lungs and the bronchi.

The Health Ministry informed that while the baby girl “has been discharged”, the baby boy “is now recovering”

In the third case, the child, from Rajasthan, was admitted to a private hospital in Chandkheda’s area of Ahmedabad, after showing symptoms of cold and cough. The child is stable now, reports quoted civic officials as saying.

“HMPV is not a new virus. It commonly causes colds among children and also some adults. For self-limiting colds, we don’t do expensive tests to diagnose which specific virus it is due to. Therefore, the finding of this virus upon testing is not anything unu-sual or worrisome,” Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, Chairman of the Kerala State IMA Research Cell, told IANS.