DAILY MAIL
Top British virus experts have called on Chinese authorities to disclose vital information about a worrying outbreak of the respiratory infection hMPV, which is reported to be overwhelming its hospitals.
The UK authorities ‘need more information on the specific strain circulating’ in order to accurately assess the threat to the British public, warned virus expert Dr Andrew Catchpole.
It comes as cases of the infection — which features cold-like symptoms — rise across the UK, with graphs showing doubling in numbers over the last month.
Currently, as many as one in 20 cases of respiratory infections could be due to the infection, which is known as human metapneumovirus (hMPV), according to the latest UK surveillance data.
‘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,’ said Dr Catchpole, who is Chief Scientific Officer at infectious disease testing firm hVIVO.
‘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.’
He added: ‘It is unclear just how high the numbers are or if issues are arising purely due to coinciding with high flu and Covid levels.’
Promisingly, Dr Catchpole noted that while hMPV ‘does mutate and change over time with new strains emerging’, it is ‘not a virus considered to have pandemic potential’.
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