https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2021-1660
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Vardhini Ganesh Iyer, Novonil Deb, Mubeena Javed, Vikash Jaiswal, Ranjit Sah, Human metapneumovirus—understanding a growing respiratory threat, QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, Volume 118, Issue 2, February 2025, Pages 77–78, https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcaf027
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Dear Editor,
The ongoing surge in human metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases in China has raised significant global concerns regarding its potential to cause severe complications, particularly in vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Despite its growing impact, HMPV often remains an overlooked pathogen in respiratory infections. This increase in HMPV cases coincides with colder weather conditions and increased indoor activity.1 These are common factors that facilitate the spread of respiratory viruses. As per Reuters, the data from 16 to 22 December 2024 show that there has been a recent rise in acute respiratory infections, including HMPV, which has been confirmed by China’s National Disease Control and Prevention Administration.2
HMPV was first identified in 2001 in the Netherlands although serologic findings indicate that the virus has been circulating in humans since 50 years. It is a Human pulmonary pathogenic virus that belongs to the pneumoviridae subfamily within the paramyxoviridae family together with the human respiratory syncytial virus, causing acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) in young children. It was also later identified as having a seasonal trend that1 is similar to that of other respiratory viruses and tends to peak in later months compared with RSV and influenza. Similar to respiratory syncytial virus and influenza, it was found that the HMPV-associated ALRI hospital admission rate was much higher in infants than older children, with about 58% of hospital admissions and 71% of in-hospital deaths due to HMPV-associated ALRIs in children under 5 years occurring in the first year of life. Previous evidence suggests that most children are infected with HMPV by the age of 5 years,3 with most severe infections occurring in infants, including symptomatic and asymptomatic infections. Pooled analyses have shown that HMPV is associated with 6.1–6.4% of hospital admissions due to ALRI among patients younger than 20 years worldwide.4
