Mystery virus plunges overcrowded hospitals into chaos as mortality 'worse than Covid' : in China, Reuters, January 2025

Sly Saint

Sly Saint

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
China has braced for the worst as a new virus outbreak is spreading rapidly and causing flu-like COVID-19 symptoms across the country. According to information on mainland social media platforms, children's hospitals across China have been overcrowded by many children with symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, weakness and dizziness.

On Friday, a news report from Reuters said China’s disease control authority was piloting a monitoring system for pneumonia of an unknown origin. The situation has sparked fears of cases of “White Lung” – a term often used to describe severe pneumonia symptoms.

Some have claimed that China has declared a state of emergency due to the outbreak, however, there has been no official confirmation from either the Chinese government or World Health Organisation.
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Mystery virus plunges overcrowded hospitals into chaos as mortality 'worse than Covid'
 
Mystery disease outbreak leaves hospitals overwhelmed in China: 'Long lines for cremation'
unconfirmed local media reports from China are suggesting a new bug, thought to be connected to the human metapneumovirus (HMPV), is now causing severe and even deadly results.

Usually HMPV is similar to a mild cold, but according to the Mail Online lines of sick children and adults are now overwhelming the country's healthcare system and deaths have been reported.

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Mr Peng told the news site: "A lot of people have caught colds, and most of them have [illness],' he said in quotes translated to English. About seven or eight people died this week in this area. Some were in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 40s."

Another person the news site said was a funeral director called Ms Wang, said: "There are long lines for cremation now, today, three VIP furnaces were opened."
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https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/ot...31&cvid=8023467255f64c04de7f900793b61af3&ei=4
 
Experts urge China to reveal crucial details of HPMV outbreak
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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Dr Sanjaya Senanayake, infectious disease expert associate professor of medicine at The Australian National University, said it was 'vital for China to share its data on this outbreak in a timely manner', including 'data about who is getting infected.'

He added: 'Also, we will need genomic data confirming that HMPV is the culprit, and that there aren't any significant mutations of concern. Such genomic data will also guide vaccine development.'
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Meanwhile the US has seen its own increase in HMPV cases, with positive test percentages doubling from the beginning to the end of December.

According to the latest CDC data, just under 300 positive test results reported during the last week of December, the latest figures available.
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Experts urge China to reveal crucial details of HPMV outbreak
 
WHO issue new warning over 'mystery' virus and demands key pandemic restrictions return
World Health Organisation bosses have demanded the reintroduction of three key coronavirus restrictions as “mystery” HMPV virus cases grow. Since the start of 2025, the Daily Star has been reporting on rising cases of what was at one point thought to be a mystery virus, but later turned out to be Human Metapneumovirus.

But with Chinese hospitals still swamped, UK cases soaring and many other countries still struggling to deal with the issue, experts from the WHO have no issued new guidance on how to deal with it – and it very much has 2020 vibes to it.

They are now recommending the return of three key Covid restrictions – mask wearing, isolation and hand washing.
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WHO issue new warning over 'mystery' virus and demands key pandemic restrictions return
 
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