India Reports 8 Cases of HMPV as Infections Rise in China

Stock market spooked by infections; govt says no unusual surge in influenza-like cases

- Debarshi Dasgupta and Lim Min Zhang

India on January 6 reported eight cases of the human metapneumovirus (HMPV) that has been driving a spike in respiratory illnesses in China, stoking fears among sections of the Indian public that another pandemic may be in the making.

Two of the eight HMPV cases in the country were reported on January 6 from Bengaluru, in the southern state of Karnataka.

They include a three-month-old female infant, who has recovered and has been discharged, and an eight-month-old male infant, who is said to be recovering.

Both the infants were admitted with symptoms of bronchopneumonia, a type of pneumonia that causes inflammation in the bronchial tubes and lung tissue.

A government statement said neither of the affected patients had any history of international travel.

It also stated that the government's Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme had indicated "no unusual surge" in influenza-like illness or severe acute respiratory illness cases in the country.

A third patient - a two-month-old male infant - was detected with the virus at a private hospital in Ahmedabad, in the western state of Gujarat.

According to Dr Bhavin Solanki, a senior health official with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, the child was diagnosed with an HMPV infection on December 26, but the case was reported to the authorities only on January 6.

West Bengal state capital Kolkata, too, has reported three HMPV cases since November, according to a January 6 report in The Economic Times.

Dr Sudipta Mitra from Peerless Hospital in the city, where all the three cases were detected, told the publication that the cases were of a "mild form".

Another two cases were reported in Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, on January 6.

Health experts noted that HMPV is not a newly discovered virus, and that while the current surge is of concern, it is unlikely to lead to another pandemic of the scale of Covid-19.