In this exclusive interview, Dr. MC Misra, a distinguished healthcare expert, sheds light on Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV), an emerging respiratory pathogen. Discover the risks associated with HMPV, its symptoms, modes of transmission, and preventive measures to safeguard your health. Dr. Misra also addresses frequently asked questions, debunking myths and providing actionable advice to enhance public awareness. Stay informed and proactive about this significant health concern.
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#HMPVOutbreak #VirusInIndia #ChinaVirusOutbreak #HMPVIndia #HMPVCases #IndiaVirusAlert #HMPVUpdates #HealthAlertIndia #VirusOutbreak2025 #IndiaTodayHealth #HMPVSpread #HMPVNews #RespiratoryVirus #IndiaHealthCrisis #GlobalVirusAlert
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00:00People who have some kind of flu-like symptoms should avoid going through these gatherings.
00:12Whether it's HMPV, whether it's COVID, because COVID is also there. It's not that COVID will disappear.
00:21For HMPV, there is no vaccine as yet, and there is no treatment of the virus itself.
00:28And there is no recommended antiviral therapy for this virus.
00:34Human Meta-Pneumovirus, HMPV, this is a name that many have now become aware of.
00:42And as soon as there have been cases found in India also, the precautionary measures are on.
00:49The states are making all the preparedness so as to counter the situation, not to spread panic, but to spread awareness.
00:57And to add to that further, today we are joined by Dr. M.C. Misra.
01:01He is the former director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIMS, in New Delhi.
01:05Dr. Misra, thank you so much for speaking to One India.
01:08Thank you so much, Pankaj, for inviting me for this discussion on Human Meta-Pneumovirus,
01:19popularly known as HMPV, as you have mentioned.
01:25So that has recently generated a lot of interest in the media in India.
01:32Following the upsurge, or I would say, a cluster of cases detected in China, one of the regions of China,
01:43that has naturally pressed a panic button around the globe.
01:47And also in India, which is not misplaced.
01:51Because, as they say, even the milk-burning chhachh can be swallowed.
01:58So, everybody has this apprehension.
02:01Is it going to be, that's the big question, basically, is it going to be COVID-2?
02:08Right, right.
02:09I think that's the worry which all of us carry.
02:14So, sir, if we talk about this virus, what awareness do we have about it?
02:20And how does it primarily spread in the individuals, if I may ask?
02:23Because the cases that we see in Bangalore, infants and young child has that without any travel history.
02:31So, any breakthrough on that?
02:33But I would say, Pankaj ji, that it is only that it has been detected.
02:38And now, it has been published or told about that they have picked up this case.
02:45The virus has been amongst us for a long time.
02:51It was first named in US in 1958.
02:58Then became more popular in 2001, when there were some more cases were detected in the US.
03:05They have the data actually.
03:07US is that way, is a country where you will find data on everything.
03:12So, HMPV also has been happening there along with flu, along with other respiratory viruses.
03:20It's a respiratory virus, upper respiratory virus.
03:24It comes from the same family of viruses, which is COVID, flu, and many other viruses which are unnamed, many are named.
03:33And also, it also has the same symptoms as COVID or common flu.
03:41That it will start with fever, it will start with headache, body ache, running nose, etc., cough.
03:49But it does not affect the lungs as much as COVID affected the lungs.
03:54And the illness is mild, as reported in literature, in majority, I would say 99.9% individuals.
04:04Yes, as you rightly said, it is somewhere had predilection for young, very young children, like two years or less.
04:14Or elderly, elderly age group, particularly in those who have the immunity compromised for some reason.
04:24Whether they are on cancer chemotherapy, some of them, or on dialysis, or on some other immunosuppressive medication.
04:34So I think that is where it is.
04:36And most patients, they recover without any consequence of it within five to seven days.
04:44And its incubation period is also two to five days.
04:47And it is spread, mode of spread is also basically human to human contact, if we come in contact closely.
04:56And so that is something which is very well known.
05:01And only thing that when we do, anybody presents in hospital with a fever, and when they investigate, they do a panel of viral serology.
05:11And it is included in there.
05:14So they have detected because these families have not traveled anywhere.
05:18So only thing they have picked up, because there is awareness about it.
05:24So that is why it is causing some concern.
05:28But the only concern still will remain, as was in COVID, that COVID also was like that.
05:34But whether China did some mischief in their lab to mutate it in a manner that it affected people more adversely.
05:45So if this kind of a thing, like what we call it, the biologic warfare, so that we don't know yet.
05:53It is early days.
05:54And from China, getting any credible information is not that easy.
06:00And at least this has come out.
06:03And that's why WHO is also concerned.
06:06That's why we are talking about it.
06:08Right.
06:09Absolutely.
06:10Very, you know, important aspects you touched upon, Dr. Mishra, that similar symptoms, but not so risky.
06:19And age group also, you mentioned that to where, you know, the kids, the infants or the elderly who have lesser immunity or immunity deficiency is there.
06:28When it comes to individuals like you and me, what preventive measures can we take in general parlance?
06:37Like schools and offices where there are lots of people, because there is human to human interaction also from close quarters also.
06:45What measures would you suggest that we should deploy as of now, personally?
06:50Measures are the same.
06:52They are no different than what we discussed extensively daily in COVID pandemic.
06:57That we must mask ourselves.
07:01We must keep a distance if somebody has got flu like symptoms.
07:06Do not go into the gatherings, large gatherings.
07:12And then hand hygiene, not touching your face with the hand.
07:17So all those preventive measures remain the same.
07:22But this is our behavior.
07:24Like I, when I travel, I don't use mask nowadays, but my wife uses it.
07:30And she is very particular about it.
07:32So I think that is where, because it is like common flu also can have clusters of cases.
07:39Sometimes we have seen that.
07:41And bad flu, where your voice also ends because of the bad throat or pharyngitis.
07:49So much laryngopharyngitis.
07:51So I think prevention is the keeping a distance.
07:56Isolating individual in the family.
07:59And also basically not coming in contact and all that.
08:06But I don't think the same, with the same strictness, we will say, like common flu.
08:13We don't isolate in the manner we used to isolate in COVID.
08:17You are right.
08:19In COVID also that was given up.
08:21Subsequently in COVID also, it was not that every, if you remember in the first wave in 2020.
08:31When there were lockdowns, etc.
08:34Then we were all very concerned and apprehensive about, because we didn't know the behavior.
08:40Right.
08:41Naturally, it took some time.
08:44And then we came to know that somebody loses their smell.
08:47It's a mild disease.
08:49If somebody has a loose motions, it's a mild disease when it involves the gastrointestinal tract.
08:55So all those things were there.
08:57For HMPV, it is mentioned that largely it causes a mild disease.
09:04Right.
09:05But any viral illness in a given individual at extremes of age or very young children or those who are compromised immunity.
09:16Any viral illness can become serious.
09:19Otherwise also.
09:21Dr. Misra, one final question.
09:23We have the lessons from 2020 and 2021.
09:28You and your whole team threw a lot of light on the changing patterns of COVID-19.
09:36The virus, the strain and everything.
09:38Have we learned the lessons successfully?
09:42As far as the medical team is concerned, yes, there have been upgrades.
09:46There have been certain apparatus in place to counter any situation like this in the future.
09:52As an individual, as the country as vast as India, have we learned something or do we need to reinvent the wheel here?
09:59No, I think we learned a lot of lessons that how it is important to protect oneself and others.
10:08And that's what we emphasized in COVID pandemic.
10:13Another thing which I want to tell, there is no vaccine for this yet.
10:18Yes.
10:19HMPV, there is no vaccine as yet.
10:22And there is no treatment of the virus itself.
10:25And there is no recommended antiviral therapy for this virus.
10:29So because it causes mild disease.
10:32So it is recommended that you bring your fever down by taking antifever medication like paracetamol, which is the safest medicine.
10:41Also take plenty of fluids and keep your nutrition, your health intact.
10:48And don't get panicky about this disease.
10:52I think that's what we were telling in COVID also.
10:55Although some people, we lost a lot of people whom we knew and a lot of others.
11:00That's a fact.
11:02But it was a pandemic.
11:04So we are yet not thinking that it will turn out to be that kind of a pandemic epidemic in China and then pandemic across the world.
11:14Because all these cases which have been identified in India is just a viral panel.
11:20They have detected this virus, which we all know that it is there in the environment.
11:26And any of us can catch it.
11:28And we must be catching it.
11:30One thing is also somebody has suggested that maybe we have some immunity for a lot of viruses.
11:37And this may be one of them.
11:39Yeah, so I think we have to, as we discussed those preventive measures, take those otherwise also.
11:48Because we have a lot of pollution, density of population in the country is far more than Western countries.
11:56And even in China, if you go, the crowd, although their population is almost equal to India.
12:05Now we have crossed China.
12:07But you don't see those kind of a crowded places as we see in our urban India.
12:13You would remember that we had the rural India did not have that worse COVID cases.
12:22Because of the low density of population.
12:27Yes, population was not there, migration movement was also not that was there.
12:31That's right.
12:32Definitely.
12:33Thank you so much.
12:35Thank you, Dr. Mishra.
12:36As always, you know, your input is well received here.
12:39And I'm sure that viewers would also benefit.
12:42And you're right when it comes to this particular virus, HMPV.
12:45It has been there for sure.
12:47But the treatment as of now, not any specific thing.
12:50Prevention, I would say, and precaution is the cure.
12:54One more thing I would add that don't get panicky if one case here, then two cases there,
12:59maybe more cases in Delhi and other places because they are not,
13:04they are basically our own patients without any contact.
13:10So it is only the detection is increasing because of this China thing.
13:15That's why because there is a viral panel which detects this, which is a good thing in a way.
13:21So I would reassure that this is only detection because this first case,
13:26Bangalore case, this child, this family never traveled anywhere.
13:30Right.
13:31Similarly, the other cases, also two cases which have been detected, they also have no travel history.
13:36So it is only now they are detecting this virus.
13:40So let's hope that all those preventions at the airport and other places would help us,
13:49those who are traveling.
13:51And I would say particularly in context of Kumbh, as we were discussing about Kumbh,
13:55Mela, that I think people who have some kind of symptoms like flu-like symptoms
14:02should avoid going to these gatherings themselves.
14:06So they can actually help a great deal to prevent the spread of flu-like viruses,
14:13whether it's HMPV, whether it's COVID, because COVID is also there.
14:18It's not that COVID has disappeared.
14:20Very much there. Yes, you're right.
14:22Very much amongst us and other respiratory viruses.
14:26Absolutely.
14:27No, sir, definitely.
14:28Thank you so much.
14:29I mean, I remember this was the time in 2020 when COVID had also started.
14:33But this one, HMPV, as you mentioned, not so scary.
14:38No need to panic also.
14:39And yes, any public gathering should be avoided, those who are symptomatic of it.
14:43Thank you so much, Dr. Mishra, for speaking to us and enlightening our viewers with the HMPV virus.
14:50Thank you. Thank you. Bye-bye.