Patients who have been sickened by a little-known virus causing fears in China have described some of the horrific symptoms they endured.
Diane Davison, 60, a lawyer from Maryland, was hit by human metapneumovirus (HPMV) in April 2023 and was left ‘unable to speak’ due to ‘violent’ coughing fits.
She initially thought it could be Covid or the flu because many of the symptoms overlap, such as a fever, cough, nasal congestion, and sore throat.
After six negative Covid tests, Ms Davison, who is immunocompromised, knew something was wrong. Of all the respiratory infections she’d had in her lifetime, this was ‘the worst I’ve ever experienced’, she said.
Detailing her ordeal, she said: ‘I couldn’t get out more than a couple of words. I would go into violent, violent coughing to the point where I was literally almost throwing up.’
Following further tests and swaps of her nose and throat, doctors discovered the lawyer actually had HMPV. Ms Davison said: ‘I was like, ‘What?’ Because it sounds really dire.’
HMPV, which some doctors describe as ‘the most important virus you’ve never heard of’, has been blamed for a viral outbreak in China that is reportedly overwhelming hospitals in the country’s northern provinces.
Beijing has downplayed footage of overcrowded waiting rooms and wards posted on social media, saying respiratory infections are ‘less severe’ and ‘smaller in scale’ compared to last year.
Diane Davison, 60, an entertainment lawyer from Maryland, was hit by HMPV and was left ‘unable to speak’ due to ‘violent’ coughing fits
But some fear there are similarities with the current situation and the Covid outbreak in 2019, which was initially played down by China.
Dr John Williams, a pediatrician at the University of Pittsburgh who has spent his career researching vaccines and treatments for HMPV says the pathogen is one of viruses most likely to hospitalize people and even kill children and vulnerable people as there are no vaccines or drugs to treat it.
HMPV is similar to other seasonal viruses like RSV which cause symptoms of the common cold. HMPV is thought to account for about 1 in 10 respiratory illnesses in children.
Though most cases are mild, some patients can develop a lower respiratory tract infection like pneumonia or, like in Ms Davison’s case, bronchitis, inflammation of the bronchial tubes in the lungs, leading to a cough and other symptoms
Ms Davison was sick for around a month and then got better, but she has urged others not to dismiss the infection as mild.
American TikTok creator @alymoreno32 claimed in one of her clips that her baby was hit by HMPV in March 2024.
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She said his condition quickly deteriorated and he was rushed back to hospital after he couldn’t breath.
The mom-of-three wrote in the comment section: ‘He sounded so bad. [He] wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t move.’
HMPV was first identified in 2001 and infects thousands of Americans every year. According to the latest CDC data, just under 300 positive test results reported during the last week of December, the latest figures available, which is normal for this time of year.
The CDC says it is ‘monitoring’ the cases in China but believe they are ‘not currently a cause for concern in the US.’
Around 20,000 children under five in the US are hospitalized with HMPV every year and a few hundred of those die from the illness.
The US CDC said it is ‘monitoring’ the cases in China but believe they are ‘not currently a cause for concern in the US’.
TikTok creator @alymoreno32 revealed in one of her clips that her baby was hit by HMPV in March 2024
Experts have cautioned that the virus, which produces flu-like symptoms, can lurk in the body for days and so it can be easily passed on to others
The situation in China is similar to an outbreak in winter 2023/24, when its hospitals were overrun with patients with mycoplasma pneumoniae.
The condition, dubbed ‘white lung’ for the little white specks it leaves on lung X rays, is usually mild, similar to HMPV.
But that outbreak was partly linked to weak population immunity in China as a result of its draconian lockdowns and anti-Covid measures, which were among some of the harshest in the world.
Experts say a lack of exposure to seasonal germs leaves people vulnerable when they eventually get infected, especially children.
Commenting on the current situation in China Dr Andrew Catchpole, the chief scientific officer at research organization hVIVO, said: ‘HMPV is usually detected in the winter periods but it does seem that the rates of serious infection may be higher in China than what we would expect in a normal year.
‘We need more information on the specific strain that is circulating to start to understand if this is the usual circulating strains or if the virus causing high infection rates in China has some differences.’
Beijing has acknowledged the surge in cases of HMPV and it attributed this to a seasonal spike.
In northern China, the ongoing surge in HMPV cases aligns with the region’s chilly temperatures, which are anticipated to persist until March.
Other northern hemisphere, including but not limited to China, are experiencing an increased prevalence of HMPV, Jacqueline Stephens, an epidemiologist at Flinders University in Australia, told the BBC.
‘While this is concerning, the increased prevalence is likely the normal seasonal increase seen in winter,’ she said.
HMPV was uncovered by Dutch researchers in 2001 from samples from children in the Netherlands with unexplained respiratory infections.
Some were seriously ill and needed to be on a ventilator, but were not testing positive for any pathogens.
The scientists looked at the virus’ genes are saw that it was closely related to avian metapneumovirus, which infects birds.
The new virus was named human metapneumovirus.
The researchers think it hopped from birds to humans and then evolved.
Ms Davison is one of the few American patients to share their story about battling HMPV
SOUTHERN PROVINCES: The above shows the proportion of outpatient visits due to flu-like illness in southern provinces over previous years. The red line is for the 2024 to 2025 flu season
NORTHERN PROVINCES: The above graph shows the proportion of visits to hospital for flu-like illness in northern provinces by week. The red line is for 2024 – 2025 flu season, and shows levels are at their highest since 2021
As with the flu, babies and the elderly are most at risk because their immune systems are either still developing or deteriorating.
HMPV is spread by direct or close contact with an infected person, such as a cough, shaking hands, sneezing or touching infected objects or surfaces.
One study found that it was the second most common cause of respiratory infections in kids after respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms but hits infants and older adults harder.
HMPV and RSV are in the Pneumoviridae family.
While HMPV does mutate and change over time with new strains emerging, Dr Catchpole says ‘it is not a virus that we consider to have pandemic potential’.
He explains: ‘This is because the changes in HMPV are gradual and based on previously circulating strains.
‘Pandemics occur when a totally new virus enters the human population, like for Covid.
‘Or in the case of influenza, when a totally new variant of the virus enters the human population by combination with a human version of the virus with that of an animal version of the virus from what is known as the animal reservoir.
‘There is no such animal reservoir of related viruses known for HMPV.
‘This means that even if the HMPV in China currently is a new variant of the virus, it is highly likely to be significantly related to previously circulating HMPV strains such that there will be some level of pre-existing immunity from exposure to related viruses previously, which will significantly reduce the disease burden in healthy people.’
