No Cause For Alarm”: Indian Health Agency On HMPV Virus Spreading In China

New Delhi:

A top official of the country’s repository of technical knowledge on medical issues has asked people not to panic over the spread of the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China.

Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) official Dr Atul Goel suggested taking general precautions against all respiratory infections.

“… Otherwise, there is nothing to be alarmed about the present situation,” Dr Goel said.

There is no specific antiviral treatment for HMPV, so prevention is key to controlling its spread, doctors have said.

“There has been news doing the rounds about a Metapneumovirus outbreak in China. Let me be very clear on that count. Metapneumovirus is like any other respiratory virus which causes common cold, and in the very old and the very young it could cause flu-like symptoms,” Dr Goel told reporters today.