Alert as hMPV infections spike – ‘mystery virus’ that caused Chinese hospital meltdown hits new high in the UK, data reveals
Cases of the ‘mystery virus’ that ripped through China earlier this month have reached a new high in Britain — with older patients worst hit.
Official data shows one in 20 hospital patients tested for respiratory infections in England were positive for human metapneumovirus (hMPV) as of January 13.
This is the highest figure for the winter season so far, and double what UK health officials recorded at the start of December.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says the level of hMPV in England is currently ‘medium’ based on the almost 8,000 samples tested.
Concerns surrounding hMPV emerged after distressing footage from China showed hospitals overflowing with masked parents holding young children in an echo of the earliest days of the Covid pandemic.
Local news reports blamed hMPV, a little known but not uncommon bug, which normally causes a mild cold-like illness but can be serious for some people.
The latest British data shows seven per cent of very young children tested in English hospitals were positive for hMPV as of the the latest report.
While this is a fall from one in 10 testing positive earlier in the year, cases are now surging among elderly.
Concerns surrounding hMPV were first raised in early January when footage emerged of hospitals in China apparently overrun, drawing comparisons with with the early days of Covid
UKHSA found 7.3 per cent of the over 80s recently tested in hospital were positive for the virus, double the figure recorded mid-December.
Those age 65 to 79 have also seen a similar spike in cases with 5.6 per cent of patients tested positive for hMPV, up from 3.4 per cent in mid-December.
While overall 4.9 per cent hMPV positivity is the highest recorded so far this winter, it’s still a far cry from 10.7 per cent recorded in 2021.
hMPV causes a mild illness for most patients but the elderly, very young and those with pre-existing illness are at increased risk of becoming seriously ill.
Such patients can develop the serious and potentially lung conditions like pneumonia and increased strain on the body from illness can leave some patients at increased risk of heart attacks.
Symptoms of an hMPV infection are similar to a cold or flu, including a cough, runny or blocked nose, sore throat and fever, with those struck by it usually ill for about five days.
hMPV spreads through tiny droplets that are expelled by the infected when they breath, but to a far greater extent when they cough and sneeze.
Infection can occur when people close by breath in these droplets or by touching surfaces contaminated with them, like door handles, and then going on to touch their face or mouth.
In much the same way as other cold, flu or Covid viruses – HMPV is largely airborne and moves from one person to another through inhaling contaminated droplets
A child wearing a face shield is held by an adult as they wait to be seen by medical staff at a hospital in Hangzhou, China
People with hMPV can also spread the virus while suffering no symptoms themselves as they are still contagious before they begin to feel ill.
As such the public are being urged to regularly and properly wash their hands, staying in well-ventilated spaces if they can and also to try to avoid others when ill to reduce the potential spread of hMPV.
hMPV, which belongs to the same family of infectious bugs as the more commonly respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, was first ‘discovered’ in 2001 but it’s thought to have been circulating and causing ‘colds’ long before its official identification.
No dedicated vaccines or drugs to combat the virus have yet been developed.
The World Health Organisation has attempted to quell concerns about the spread of hMPV in China, saying the level seen was ‘not unusual’.
Beijing’s health officials have also claimed infections had peaked and were now going down.
‘At present, the rate of positive cases in hMPV detection is fluctuating and the rate of positive cases in northern provinces is declining,’ said Wang Liping, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, earlier this month.
While scenes at Chinese hospitals have drawn obvious comparisons to the start of the Covid pandemic, experts don’t consider hMPV to have the same devastating potential as it has been around for many years.
Experts have cautioned that hMPV, which produces flu-like symptoms, can lurk in the body for days and so it can be easily passed on to others
Britain’s spike in hMPV comes as the NHS continues to be battered by a quad-demic of winter illnesses, flu, norovirus, RSV and Covid.
Cases of the vomiting bug norovirus are up 80 per cent on the same time last year, and while flu cases have recently come down they are still double the level recorded last year.
The waves of pathogens have seen health service become alarmingly close to capacity. Latest data show 96 per cent of adult hospital beds are occupied.
This is above 92 per cent point which, experts warn, is where the ability of staff to care for patients safely starts to drop.
Some NHS trusts have brought back mask mandates this winter in a bid to stop the spread of winter viruses among patients.
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard has also spoken about the impact winter diseases have had on the NHS.
‘It is difficult to put into words just how tough it is for our frontline staff at the moment,’ she wrote on X.
‘We are really worried about the toll that flu and other viruses are taking on our patients and on services across the NHS.
‘Not only are staff managing high levels of A&E attendances and ambulance calls, they are also caring for really sick people who have been admitted and need specialist care.’
The latest figures came after a ‘harrowing’ report by the Royal College of Nursing also revealed a severe shortage of beds has meant the sick are being left in ‘animal-like’ conditions in hospital car parks, cupboards and toilets.
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