NEW DELHI, Jan 8: The World Health Organisation (WHO) is in contact with Chinese health officials and has not received any reports of unusual outbreak patterns, the WHO noted in its latest disease outbreak report on HMPV.
It said the Chinese authorities report that the health care system there was not overwhelmed and that there have been no emergency declarations or responses triggered. “WHO continues to monitor respiratory illnesses at global, regional and country levels through collaborative surveillance systems, and provides updates as needed,” it said.
Based on data published by China, covering the period up to December 29, 2024, acute respiratory infections have increased during recent weeks and detections of seasonal influenza, rhinovirus, and HMPV, particularly in northern provinces of China, have also increased.
Though there has been an increase in respiratory pathogen detections, it has been within the range expected for this time of the year, during the winter in northern hemisphere, the WHO noted.
In China, influenza is among the most commonly detected respiratory pathogens currently affecting people with acute respiratory infections. “HMPV is a common respiratory virus found to circulate in many countries in winter through to spring, although not all countries routinely test and publish data on trends in HMPV. While some cases can be hospitalised with bronchitis or pneumonia, most people infected with HMPV have mild upper respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold and recover after a few days,’’ said the disease outbreak report.
It added that there has been international interest in a potential increase of respiratory virus transmission in China, particularly HMPV, including speculations of hospitals being overwhelmed.
China has an established sentinel surveillance system for influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), including HMPV, and conducts routine virological surveillance for common respiratory pathogens with detailed reports published weekly on the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. Surveillance and laboratory data for HMPV is not available routinely from all countries, said WHO.
(Manas Dasgupta)