Fears grow after reports that hMPV ’causes pneumonia within days’ – situation in China ‘worse than 2022’, but officials claim infections are declining

New concerns have arisen over the threat of the ‘mysterious’ hMPV virus, which is behind the surge in hospital admissions in China, it is claimed, and is now on the rise worldwide.

Middle-aged patients have tested positive for the virus and developed pneumonia “between three and five days later,” according to new unconfirmed reports based on videos shared on Chinese social media app Weibo.

Another Weibo user said the situation was “worse than 2022” according to YouTube channel Decoding China, when a Covid-19 outbreak in Shanghai led to mass testing and strict lockdown conditions.

Even more worrying, one user claimed that children “die suddenly” after their heart rates drop, according to reports in The Star and De Mirror.

Concerns emerged in early January when images emerged of hospitals in China apparently overwhelmed, drawing comparisons to the early days of Covid.

The videos show patients in face masks crowding emergency rooms and parents holding sick children in long lines in pediatric wards.

Local news reports blamed hMPV – the human metapneumovirus – a little-known but not uncommon bug that normally causes a mild, cold-like illness.

The elderly, the very young and those with pre-existing conditions may be most affected.

As with all respiratory infections, a major risk is pneumonia, a potentially fatal lung condition that can develop within days.

Experts worldwide called on Chinese authorities to reveal crucial details of the outbreak as cases began to rise in Britain and America.

According to UK surveillance data, around one in 20 non-flu respiratory infections are now due to hMPV – more than double the number in early December.

And in the US, the Centers for Disease Control reported yesterday that one in 50 Americans with a cough probably had the virus – an increase of 25 percent in a week.

Still, the numbers are not unusual for this time of year, and doctors assured Americans that hMPV is mild for most.

The World Health Organization also sought to quell growing uncertainty, adding that the situation in China was “not unusual.”

The global health agency said respiratory infection rates there were within the normal range expected for winter, and no unusual outbreaks had been reported.

Health officials have also claimed that infections had peaked and are now declining.

hMPV is in the same family as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and usually causes little more than fever, coughing and nasal congestion

Concerns emerged in early January when images emerged of hospitals in China apparently overwhelmed, drawing comparisons to the early days of Covid-19.

“Currently, the number of positive cases in the detection of hMPV is fluctuating, and the number of positive cases is decreasing in the northern provinces,” Wang Liping, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Sunday.

The new images, which have not been viewed by MailOnline, could increase pressure on health chiefs to provide an update to reassure the public.

hMPV is in the same family as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and usually causes little more than fever, coughing and nasal congestion.

The virus was first ‘discovered’ in 2001, but it was thought to be one of many bugs in circulation that have been causing the common cold for decades, if not longer.

Virus expert Dr. Andrew Catchpole said last week: ‘hMPV is usually detected in the winter period, but it appears that rates of serious infections in China may be higher than what we would expect in a normal year.

He added: ‘It is unclear how high the figures are and whether any problems arise purely because of the coincidence with high flu and Covid levels.’

Dr. Catchpole noted that while hMPV “mutates and changes over time as new strains emerge,” it is “not a virus that is considered to have pandemic potential.”