2023-06-15 15:24:28
Cough, runny nose and fever? This could hide a completely “normal” flu. Or a virus with serious consequences that, according to a doctor, hardly anyone knows.
Frankfurt – Previously largely unknown, that has Coronavirus has gained wide, albeit dubious, notoriety within a very short space of time. Corona symptoms, course of the disease and forms of treatment are now firmly anchored in the minds of many. But it’s not just the corona virus and other infectious diseases such as the flu or that RS virus which is very dangerous for some groups of people can become.
There are viruses that have so far led a shadowy existence, wrongly so, because they too can be very dangerous. Across from CNN A doctor now explained which is “the most important virus you have never heard of”.
Dangerous virus: what is human metapneumovirus (hMPV)?
The human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is very similar to the RS virus, which repeatedly causes waves of disease. The symptoms also hardly differ. According to that MSD Manual the following signs may appear:
- Sniffles
- Cough and wheezing of breath
- Fever
- Small children may experience pauses in breathing
“The Most Important Virus You’ve Never Heard Of” – Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV)
But what makes the virus so dangerous that experts are now warning specifically about it? There are several reasons for this. One aspect is the unknown nature of the virus. The data of Working group influenza of the RKI judging by this, it appeared more frequently than the RS virus in the last six months. Nevertheless, in many cases the virus is not tested, explains the doctor John Williams from the University of Pittsburgh CNN.
According to the doctor, this is due to the fact that many medical professionals simply do not know the human metapneumovirus (hMPV) or do not have it on their radar. The virus, along with RSV and influenza, is one of the three main viruses that “have the highest likelihood of hospitalizing children and adults and causing serious sequelae, which in some cases spread to nursing homes, making the elderly really sick and even them kill”.
The human metapneumovirus (hMPV): What makes the virus so dangerous
However, another factor weighs just as heavily. Because there is still hardly any treatment method, let alone a vaccination. Instead, the symptoms are usually treated. Nevertheless, testing for the human metapneumovirus makes sense, the doctor thinks. Because this could avoid other viral infections and the associated possibly unnecessary treatments.
The virus is also dangerous because an infection is often experienced in childhood, but the immune protection afterwards is only very weak. That’s why new infections keep coming. But there is hope. Among others, the Moderna group is currently researching an mRNA vaccine against the human metapneumovirus. (slo)
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