The Reality Behind Fake Social Media Rumors and News Reports on HMPV in China

On Friday, a picture of a hospital in China overwhelmed with patients went viral on social media and was widely broadcast on news channels. Reports said that, four years after the COVID-19 pandemic, China is now facing a new virus. But are they true, or is it just exaggeration by the media? Let's dig deep into the facts behind the rumors of a new pandemic in China.

let’s begin by briefly understanding the virus:

Introduction:

First recognized in 2001, human metapneumovirus is a respiratory pathogen that primarily targets the respiratory system. This virus belongs to the Paramyxoviridae family, which contains many other viruses having their target site in the respiratory system, among them being respiratory syncytial virus. HMPV causes infections that are mainly of the upper and lower respiratory tracts and is a common source of disease for infants, young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals.

What evidence forms the basis for these news channels to headline the alleged outbreak of HMPV in China?

Social media rumors and news reports have claimed that Chinese health officials at the China CDC declared an explosion of a new virus due to its country-wide spread. But what did the officials actually say?

On Friday, 3 January 2025, representatives of the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clarified at a news conference that the infections presently most frequently detected in hospital consultations are influenza, rhinovirus, human metapneumovirus, and mycoplasma pneumonia. They said nothing to suggest HMPV was overburdening hospitals or that it was a virus capable of triggering a new pandemic in China five years since the COVID-19 pandemic had broken out.

Therefore, it is imported to know the historical background of human metapneumovirus in order to reveal the truth behind these accounts.

History Of  Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV)

Human metapneumovirus, a respiratory pathogen first identified in the Netherlands in the year 2001, hence making scientists deduce that the virus is likely to be prevalent worldwide. HMPV, a paramyxovirus closely related to avian pneumovirus, was first described in a study of 28 Dutch children who had a range of illness from mild upper respiratory tract infections to severe bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

According to Albert Osterhaus of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, serological studies indicated that nearly all children in the Netherlands were infected with HMPV by age five. The findings suggested that the virus has been circulating among humans for at least five decades. Its late discovery was due to its poor replication in standard culture systems and the lengthy incubation period of up to 10 days to observe cytopathic effects.

Meanwhile, a group from the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, led by Michael Nissen and Theo Sloots, had been investigating aetiology for what appeared to be viral pneumonia and bronchiolitis. Molecular techniques had screened nasopharyngeal samples from patients excluded for nine common viruses like RSV, influenza A and B, and parainfluenza.

In the investigation of 200 samples, it was shown that three samples carried HMPV genetic material. Viral replication was also evident in cultures from two samples. An expanded survey of 525 samples revealed HMPV appeared in 40 cases. These were all connected with 38 children whose age averaged 2.4 years. Based on these results, scientists advised that HMPV is fairly endemic within the population of Australia.

Reference: Human Metapneumovirus was discovered 2001 in the Netherlands

Other Global Findings

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) has not only been reported in the Netherlands but also in populations across Canada, South Africa, Taiwan, Pakistan, and several other countries, research show that the virus has been present in human populations for at least five decades.

Canada: 

During the 2001-2002 season, a collaborative study conducted with four provincial public health laboratories to study the prevalence of this new virus in the Canadian population. A total of 445 specimens were collected from patients of all age groups with acute respiratory tract infections ARIs and were tested for the presence of hMPV by reverse transcription-PCR. Of these, 66 (14.8%) tested positive for hMPV. Positive cases were identified across all age groups and in each of the four provinces studied, with viral activity reaching its peak during February and March.

Reference: Human metapneumovirus infection in the Canadian population

South Africa:

In 2004, A clinical manifestation, and seroprevalence of hMPV and other respiratory viruses in South African children referred to hospital for upper or lower respiratory tract infection were carried out during a single winter season, by using RT-PCR, viral culture, and ELISA. In nasopharyngeal aspirates from 137 children, hMPV was detected by RT-PCR in 8 (5.8%) children (2–43 months of age) as a sole viral pathogen

Reference: Human metapneumovirus infection in hospital referred South African children

Pakistan:

The Human Metapneumovirus, spreading rapidly in China these days, was already present in Pakistan for the past two decades, the NIH said. The virus, similar to the one that surfaced in China, was detected for the first time in Pakistan back in 2001, a statement issued from its headquarters at Islamabad said. HMPV cases are surfacing within the country, but the most noticed case was one reported with 21 cases at PIMS Hospital in Islamabad during 2015.

Reference: HMPV virus, present in Pakistan since 2001

This proves that the rumors spread through social media and headlines from news channels regarding the outbreak of HMPV in China were misleading. Actually, since its discovery in 2001, HMPV has been reported all over the world.

إِذْ تَلَقَّوْنَهُۥ بِأَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَتَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِكُم مَّا لَيْسَ لَكُم بِهِۦ عِلْمٌۭ وَتَحْسَبُونَهُۥ هَيِّنًۭا وَهُوَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ عَظِيمٌۭ

Translation:

 "when you passed it from one tongue to the other, and said with your mouths what you had no knowledge of, taking it lightly while it is ˹extremely˺ serious in the sight of Allah." (Surah An Nur 24:15)