Hospitals across China are reportedly overwhelmed following the outbreak of a mysterious virus bearing similarities to Covid-19.
Footage shared widely on social media depicts patients wearing face masks in various medical facilities, with parents queuing in long lines at paediatric wards while holding their unwell children.
Although no official announcement has been made regarding the situation, the scenes evoke memories of the early, fraught days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Some reports have attributed the outbreak to human metapneumovirus (HMPV), a relatively obscure virus known to cause mild, cold-like symptoms.
Raman Gangakhedkar, a scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research, sought to ease public concerns about the potential for another pandemic, noting that children under five years of age are the most vulnerable to the virus.
“There is no need to be alarmed about human metapneumovirus (HMPV) unless a global health agency reports a genetic mutation,” Mr Gangakhedkar stated.
Echoing this reassurance, Suresh Gutpa, a medical practitioner at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in India, highlighted that HMPV has been known for over two decades.
“It comes particularly in the winter season, it is like influenza virus, normal viral fever. In most of the cases, the symptoms are cold, cough, fever, and they are self-limiting. With general medicine, they settle down at home. Most of the children who get this infection, do not require hospitalisation. So mostly it is a mild infection,” Mr Gutpa explained.
The outbreak follows a warning from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control, which recently cautioned about rising rates of flu-like illnesses. A report released in late December revealed that 7.2 percent of outpatient visits to hospitals in northern provinces were attributed to such conditions.
