The 100-Year Life Health Education and Government
Cases of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) are surging in northern China in children under 14, according to local authorities. HMPV is an RNA virus of the Pneumoviridae family, discovered in 2001 in the Netherlands.
It causes influenza or cold-like symptoms but might lead to bronchitis or pneumonia, particularly in infants, elderly and immunocompromised people.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control (CDC) said that acute respiratory infections are on the seasonal increase and are caused by different pathogens.
The HMPV surge has raised concerns of the new pandemic but experts say this is not the case, advising people to wear masks, wash hands, and stay sick at home.
Many more patients in China are currently suffering from the influenza virus, which spreads five times faster than HMPV.
