China has issued a huge update regarding the deadly HMPV outbreak!
On Sunday, January 12, The Associated Press reported that health official in China have issued a statement revealing that the rate of infections with the flu-like human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is seeing a decline in the northern side of the country.
It was also updated by the commission spokesperson Hu Qiangqiang that flu infections across the country are expected to slowly decline in mid-to-late January, giving a sigh of relief to the people.
HMPV is a single-stranded RNA virus that belongs to the Pneumoviridae family and causes diseases related to the respiratory systems of the human beings of all age groups.
Common symptoms of the disease include cough, fever, nasal congestion, which are similar to the signs of fly, making it difficult to distinguish between both.
While addressing China’s National Health Commission, Wang Liping, who is a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stated, “The human metapneumovirus is not a new virus, and has been with humans for at least several decades.”
“At present, the rate of positive cases in human metapneumovirus detection is fluctuating, and the rate of positive cases in northern provinces is declining, and the rate of positive cases among patients aged 14 and below has started to decline,” she said.
Concerns over the HMPV infection ignited when videos of crowded hospitals and masked patients began making rounds all over the internet, sparking fear of a potential pandemic five years after covid-19.
