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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director)
In the United States, health specialists seem to fear that an already active respiratory virus, the human metapneumovirus, will gain momentum in the years to come. But should we be worried about a pandemic? The answer of Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo.
After the flu, Covid, bronchiolitis, here is a new respiratory virus that is making headlines today, especially on the other side of the Atlantic. Human metapneumovirus is a viral condition that is believed to primarily affect infants and young children, but can also cause respiratory distress in adults. With warning signal: in the United States, the cases detected suddenly increased during the spring.
What is human metapneumovirus?
The human metapneumovirus, or HPMV, is a human virus discovered in the Netherlands in 2001, on children suffering from unexplained respiratory infections, and coming from a probable mutation of an avian metapneumovirus. But the virus could have been raging for much longer: during research, it was found on blood samples dating from the middle of the 20th century.
Its symptoms are common, and quite similar to the coronavirus or the flu: cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever, and lower tract lung infection. HPMV mainly affects infants and young children, but can, like any virus, affect the elderly or vulnerable, which can cause severe infection in the weakest people.
More cases detected in the United States during the spring
If the alert is given in the United States these days, it is because the cases of human metapneumovirus increased in the spring on American territory. According to health authorities, 11% of patients tested in hospitals were positive there, compared to 7% previously.
In reality, it is difficult to know clearly the evolution of this virus, which may as well have passed under the radar of health professionals for years. According to these same American health authorities, some of the patients do not know that they are carrying the virus. In addition, few patients are tested for this virus outside of hospitals. The number of people affected could therefore be much larger than what is known.
“We must get out of this climate of fear, and do better on prevention”
For Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo, pointing out the slightest evolution of each known virus is a mistake.
“There are millions of viruses! But they are followed by scientists, by virologists. New viruses, there are all the time, pathogenic viruses from time to time and dangerous viruses that will kill, there are very rarely. Today we are in a kind of post covid viral psychosis where everyone has become a little hypochondriac. My concern is that the day when there will be a really dangerous virus, by dint of crying wolf, no one will believe it anymore.
But for the doctor, this report and this alert on a new virus are the symptoms of another dysfunction:
“We must also remember that simple, banal viruses can always kill the most fragile people. The Covid has affected the most fragile people, with significant comorbidities or advanced age. This is called a syndemic: when the virus is an aggravating factor in a state of health, which is already bad at the start. The important thing would then be to tackle the strengthening of the immune system, and prevention, rather than worrying about new viruses.”