Why HMPV Is Not A Scary Virus

If a child sneezes in China, will the whole world catch a cold? Worse still, will a new pandemic sweep across all countries to unleash deaths and devastation yet again? The fear psychosis created by recent reports on the human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a visceral reaction to memories of the terrible suffering when SARS-CoV-2 raced across countries. In the aftermath of Covid, juxtaposition of the words virus and China is enough to trigger alarm.
In India, with a few cases reported, Union health ministry officials have done well to reassure people that this virus is not a major public health threat. And that simple personal precautions can reduce the risk of infection.