2023-05-29 17:22:06
There have been reports of an outbreak in the United States of a respiratory virus, the human metapneumovirus (HMPV), which is an unknown virus, which doctors did not pay attention to because it is not subject to testing outside hospitals, and because its symptoms are similar to other respiratory viruses.
And she said “CNN”Monday, this virus causes many of the same symptoms as other respiratory diseases, such as coughing, runny nose, sore throat and fever, and can lead to admission to intensive care.
HMPV cases rose this spring in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the Department of Health, as hospital intensive care units were filled with young children and the elderly, who are more vulnerable to this infection.
However, most people who caught the virus may not have known they had it, as patients are not usually screened outside hospitals and emergency clinics.
CNN says it is one of the most common viruses like influenza and RSV. A previous study found that it is the second most common cause of respiratory tract infection in children after RSV.
A study conducted in New York, over four winters, found that it was common among older adults.
Dutch researchers discovered HCV in 2001 after unknown respiratory infections occurred in children, some of whom had severe cases, but who did not test positive for any of the known pathogens.
Scientists believe that the virus may have passed from birds to humans at some point, and evolved after that.
When the researchers tested blood samples from 72 patients that had been stored since 1958, they all showed evidence of exposure to the mysterious virus, indicating that it was spreading undetected between humans.
Infection with the virus generates weak or incomplete immunity, so humans become infected again.
Unlike COVID-19 and influenza, there is no vaccine for HMPV or antiviral drugs to treat it. Companies are working on developing a vaccine for it, and Moderna, which developed a vaccine against the virus that causes Covid-19 disease, is developing a vaccine against HMPV.
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