Two babies test positive for HMPV virus in India after outbreak ‘overwhelms’ China hospitals in chilling echo of Covid
TWO babies have been hospitalised after testing positive for the HMPV virus in India as fears of a Covid-style outbreak spread across the region.
This comes days after reports of a mysterious virus that has reportedly overwhelmed parts of China, leaving medical rooms packed with masked patients.
This little-known human metapneumovirus (HMPV) typically causes a mild cold-like illness which can quickly lead to hospitalisation and in the worst case death for the most vulnerable.
This girl has since been discharged but a second baby - a six-month-old boy - was rushed to the same hospital on 3 January.
The boy is reportedly "recovering" from the virus and both children had a history of bronchopneumonia.
read more on health
There have also been reports of a two-month-old boy also contracting this HMPV virus in the western city of Ahmedabad, according to .
This worrying development came just days after photos showed hospital waiting rooms overwhelmed and filled with masked patients in China as officials remain tight-lipped over the latest outbreak.
These unverified videos started to whirl around social media on New Year's Eve, echoing worrying images of 2020's Covid outbreak.
Cases of the HMPV virus are reportedly surging in northern China but some of these viral videos have even claimed to show hospitals in Hunan — a province in southern China as well as the surrounding areas.
Locals have said the issues are particularly affecting children's hospitals, mirroring the cases in India.
Despite this, India's Union Health Ministry has said there is no link between these children and reported cases in China, according to .
Despite this, official reports from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have suggested the problems could just be a regular flu.
The Chinese group said 30 per cent of these tests have come back as influenza.
Ning said: “Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season.
“The diseases appear to be less severe and spread with a smaller scale compared to the previous year.”
Official reports of any serious health complications or even fatalities are yet to be released but locals have claimed the outbreak has already cost some lives.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
These images are reminiscent of Covid which is believed to have ripped through China five years ago before spreading across the globe.
Over seven million people are said to have died due to COVID-related complications in the years since the outbreak was first reported.