Outbreak In China due to HMPV: Can “immune debt” explain it?
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Abstract
In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, recent reports(1) of outbreaks of respiratory illnesses mostly due to the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV), in many provinces of China are causing apprehensions of another pandemic.
While first discovered in the Netherlands in the year 2001, it is a common pathogen globally. Serological studies suggest that it has been circulating since 1958. (2) Like most respiratory viruses it is spread predominantly by droplets or by contact with an infected person or contaminated surfaces. No extra-human reservoir has been reported. However, a closely related virus, the Avian Metapnemovirus (AMPV), cause infections in birds suggesting that the HMPV might have evolved from the zoonotic AMPV.(3) While transmission is perennial, surges occur in winter and early spring. It is a single stranded RNA virus belonging to the Pneumoviridae family. While there are four viral genotypes namely, A1, A2, B1, and B2 none predominate and there no variation in severity between the strains.(2)
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