Winter illnesses return with a vengeance
The American respiratory virus hMPV has a seasonal spike in 2022-2023: What’s happening in the U.S. after the first outbreak?
While hMPV levels in the US are currently low—accounting for less than 2 percent of weekly positive tests for respiratory viruses, based on the CDC’s latest data, compared to 19 percent for influenza and 7 percent for Covid—the country also experienced a sudden post-pandemic surge in hMPV infections during the winter of 2022–23.
A group of Dutch scientists discovered the first human metapneumoviruses, or hMPV, in 24 years ago. But in the years since, wider awareness of hMPV has remained remarkably low, despite its being one of many endemic respiratory viruses that circulate globally on a seasonal basis, alongside influenza, Covid, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). “In North America or the southern hemisphere, it circulates during the winter months, and then during the rainy season in the tropics,” Williams says. Usually you see theRSV first, then comes a big peak of flu and then a big peak of hMPV. Three people follow each other.
As head of one of the world’s only dedicated research labs focused on human metapneumovirus, John Williams used to spend most of his time attempting to convince skeptical doctors the virus was real. Williams gave himself a smile when the recent outbreak in northern China was met with a lot of alarm. The forgotten burden of public health was finally being taken seriously.
The CDC’s Jackson says that they are watching it closely. I can say that the levels here in the U.S. are very average for this time of year. It’s not anything out of whack compared to previous seasons.”
The WHO said in a statement that they had not received any reports of unusual outbreak patterns. Chinese authorities reported that the health care system is not overwhelmed and no emergency declarations or responses have been triggered.
All this comes on top of other common infections, according to Dr. Sean O’Leary, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and chair of the committee on infectious diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Clostridium perfringens, which can cause walking pneumonia, and mycoplasma pneumonia are two examples of diseases that are still spreading.
Over the Christmas holidays people travel and spend time with family and friends. The bad news is that this often means they come home with some nasty bug. We’re in that again, right now.
“We have the flu and are buried with it.” Things are very, very busy and intense,” says Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease researcher at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. “The emergency room is full of people who are coughing and sneezing. There have been people on gurneys waiting for admission. We are full.
“Before we had two major viruses causing a lot of hospitalizations and deaths with RSV and flu,” Schaffner says. COVID still causes more hospitalizations and deaths than the other two even though it is no longer in an emergency state. And so you add that together, each respiratory season on average going forward is going to be worse than it was before the pandemic because of the addition of COVID.”
Nobody knows how bad things will get this winter. It looks like this winter will be similar to last year according to the CDC.
Many children, parents, grandparents and other vulnerable people ending up in the hospital will still be a disservice to this country.
Vaccinations and the Influence of the Three Viruses in a Pandemic Likely Snowstorm: The Case for Flu and COVID-19
We have three Viruses that are going to hit peaks that are close to each other. So that as one starts to go down, the other’s going to start peaking,” says Dr. Andrew Pavia, an infectious disease researcher at the University of Utah. “And we’re just not going to get a break, like a series of snowstorms. What it means, I think, is we’re in for a pretty miserable January before things start to let up.”
But even then, there will likely be a long tail, according to Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist from Johns Hopkins University who wrote the book Crisis Averted, about pandemics.
Rivers and some others recommend people wash their hands a lot, wear masks and get vaccinations. The flu and COVID-19 shots aren’t perfect, but they both still do a pretty good job of keeping people out of the hospital and dying, especially older people and others who are vulnerable. Most people still haven’t gotten either of those shots, but it’s not too late.
It also can’t hurt to get tested to see which bug someone has. The flu and carbon dioxide tests are available for the first time this year without a prescription. That could help their doctors decide more quickly whether they need antiviral drugs.
Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has a seasonal spike in the US after the first outbreak. While hMPV levels in the US are currently low, it accounts for less than 2% of weekly positive tests for respiratory viruses, based on CDC’s latest data. The country also experienced a sudden post-pandemic jump in hMPV infections during the winter of 2022-23.