HMPV cases surge: New case in Puducherry takes India’s total tally to 17 

Amid heightened surveillance in India, three HMPV cases were reported from Gujarat and Assam over the weekend and another case was reported from Puducherry.  

One more child in Puducherry tested positive for Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) and is undergoing treatment in the centrally administered JIPMER here, a top official said. 

Director of Health for Puducherry, V Ravichandran, in a release on late Sunday said that the girl child complained of fever, cough and running nose. She was admitted in JIPMER a few days ago and has been under treatment. He said that the child was recovering well and all precautionary measures had been taken.  

India has reported 17 cases over the past few days — including five from the western state of Gujarat.  

Meanwhile, China says the rate of infections in the northern part of the country is declining. 

“The human metapneumovirus is not a new virus, and has been with humans for at least several decades,” said Wang Liping, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, during a press briefing by China’s National Health Commission. 

She noted the increase in recent years in the number of cases of the virus, first detected in the Netherlands in 2001, is due to better detection methods. 

“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. 

Earlier, it said that it was in close communication with the World Health Organisation (WHO) related to the situation of respiratory diseases, including HMPV. 

Health experts have emphasised the virus is not new, and advised people to stay calm and take basic precautions. They said India has not witnessed any unusual surge in cases. Experts said laboratory tests such as RT-PCR can detect the virus' genetic material, while antibody tests help identify past exposure. 

Experts said that HMPV and COVID-19 are very different. HMPV has been around for decades and there is some built-in immunity to it. Most children are infected with the virus by the age of 5.