FILE - A man sneezes into a tissue on March 14, 2020. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images) A lesser-known virus that causes a respiratory infection with symptoms like cough, fever, congestion, and shortness of breath, spiked this spring and filled hospitals, officials said. Human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, can cause respiratory disease in people of all ages, but particularly among young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases of HMPV, which is in the same family as the more well-known RSV, spiked in the spring, data from the CDC shows. Nationally, the most cases were detected throughout the month of March.RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms.Infectious diseases, including acute respiratory infections, are among the leading causes of death in children under 5 globally. A study published in 2020 estimated that among kids younger than 5, there were an estimated 14.2 million HMPV infections in 2018, 643,000 hospitalizations, and more than 16,000 deaths.Dr.
John Williams, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and virologist who has studied HMPV for more than 20 years, wrote in a piece last month that the uptick in HMPV cases followed the higher-than-normal case rates of RSV and influenza in the fall of 2022 and winter of 2023.But Williams said he finds many people in health care remain unfamiliar with HMPV.HMPV was first discovered by Dutch scientists in 2001 and has become "one of the most significant and common human viral infections," researchers have said.It is a seasonal disease that usually occurs in the winter and early spring, similar to RSV and the flu. It’s