Society

China is currently being confronted with a not yet well-known virus. A lot of people who have contracted the virus in northern China are flocking to the hospital, causing an overwhelm in several Chinese hospitals. Especially a lot of children are coming to the hospital with respiratory problems. Videos on social media show hospitals being flooded with patients.

The virus in question is said to be the HMPV virus, or so-called human metapneumovirus. And that's a virus that can cause flu-like symptoms such as coughing, fever and a stuffy nose or runny nose in people of all ages. In some cases, people may experience shortness of breath, which can lead to bronchitis or pneumonia. Young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are also more at risk here.

Official reports from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention are already indicating an increase in flu-like illnesses. Chinese authorities have not yet officially confirmed the outbreak of the HMPV virus, though.

Data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention show, among other things, that most of the positive tests are about influenza, but that the rate of HMPV does exceed that of other diseases such as Covid-19, rhinovirus and adenovirus. HMPV would already account for 6.2 percent of positive tests for respiratory diseases and 5.4 percent of hospitalizations due to respiratory diseases in China.

Currently, HMPV is considered a relatively recent virus and consequently no specific treatment has yet been developed for it. Infected persons are advised to treat the virus like the flu and stay home while the body fights the infection.

Chinese health authorities are already implementing new measures to monitor and control the spread of cases of pneumonia of unknown origin. In official communications, Beijing is still talking about a mere “annual winter phenomenon” for now.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has not flagged the situation as a global health emergency, but the rise in cases has prompted authorities to bolster monitoring systems.

(SR for Tagtik/Source: Newsweek - The Independent/Illustration picture: Harrison Qi for Unsplash)