'Govt is keeping close watch...': Health Ministry on HMPV outbreak in China

"We will continue to monitor the situation closely and validate information and developments accordingly," a senior official said.

The Union Health Ministry on Saturday said that given reports about rising cases of respiratory illnesses in China in the past few weeks, a Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) meeting was held under the Chairmanship of DGHS, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Health Ministry said that after detailed discussions and based on the available information it was agreed upon that the situation in China is not unusual given the ongoing flu season. Also, the reports suggest that the cause of the present surge is Influenza virus, RSV and HMPV – the usual pathogens that are expected during the season.

As a precautionary measure, the number of laboratories testing HMPV cases will be enhanced and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will monitor trends of HMPV for the entire year, it said.

The Ministry in the notification said that the government is keeping a close watch over the situation through all available channels and WHO has also been requested to share timely updates regarding the situation in China.

It further said that these viruses are already in circulation globally including India and a robust surveillance system for Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) for Influenza is already in place in India through both ICMR and IDSP networks and the data from both indicates no unusual surge in ILI & SARI cases.

The ministry also said that the physicians from hospitals also confirmed that there had been no surge in respiratory illness cases in the last few weeks other than the expected seasonal variation.

ICMR network also tests for other respiratory viruses such as Adenovirus, RSV, HMPV etc. and these pathogens also do not show an unusual increase in the tested samples. As a precautionary measure, the number of laboratories testing for HMPV will be enhanced by ICMR, and ICMR will be monitoring trends of HMPV for the entire year.

Experts from the World Health organization (WHO), theDisaster Management (DM) Cell, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Emergency Medical Relief (EMR) Division, and hospitals, including AIIMS, Delhi participated in the meeting.

Earlier on Friday the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said that it is closely monitoring respiratory and seasonal influenza cases in the country, and is in touch with international agencies in the wake of the recent reports of an outbreak of the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China, official sources said. "We will continue to monitor the situation closely and validate information and developments accordingly," a senior official said to news agency PTI.

Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Atul Goel said the Human Metapneumovirus is like any other respiratory virus which causes common cold, and it could cause flu-like symptoms in the young and the very old. "There is news doing the rounds about a Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) outbreak in China. However, we have analysed the data of the respiratory outbreaks in the country (India) and there is no substantial increase in the December 2024 data and no cases which have been reported in large numbers from any of our institutions. There is nothing to be alarmed about the present situation," he said.

"In any case, during winters there is an increased outbreak of respiratory infections for which usually our hospitals are prepared with necessary supplies and beds," Dr Goel stated.