VIRAL FEAR RISES ANEW

The fear is not an irrational one-it's just the other day that the spectre of Covid-19 was harassing the whole world. So as China reports a spike in respiratory illnesses, the memories of planetary disruption have come rushing back.

- Sonali Acharjee

Beijing dismisses the growing number of Influenza A, Human metapneumovirus (hMPV), Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Covid-19 cases as a routine "winter occurrence" and withholds an official count. But tiny warning bells are beginning to ring everywhere, including in India. While all these infections are indeed seasonal, reports on social media and from medical facilities suggest a significant outbreak of multiple microbes in China, and a newsworthy level of burden on the country's healthcare system. The usual winter illnesses are suddenly beginning to look a trifle unusual.

If it's any consolation, none of these pathogens is a novelty. Influenza A, for example, is a familiar strain of the virus that is a leading cause of seasonal flu epidemics in the world. Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a bacteria that causes "walking pneumonia", a milder form of pneumonia. The virus that presently seems to be spreading the fastest in China-Human metapneumovirus (hMPV)-is also a common winter infection that has been around since at least 2001.