Chinese doctors surprised by reports of HMPV surge, saying flu is a much bigger problem
International media reports have said hospitals are being ‘overwhelmed’ by cases, but medical staff say that is not the case
Media outlets around the world have carried reports saying that the rise in HMPV cases has “overwhelmed” hospitals, citing video footage of crowded wards taken from social media.
The flu-like disease can cause respiratory illness in people of all ages, especially young children, older adults and those with weakened immune systems.
The most recent figures from China’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have recorded a small increase in cases, but many more cases of influenza, a pattern that doctors around the country have also reported.
At the Children’s Hospital affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics in Beijing, one of China’s most prominent public children’s hospitals, many children were receiving infusion treatment in the emergency room on Wednesday noon, but a doctor said most were infected with the flu virus and he had not heard of any cases of HMPV.
A respiratory physician named Wang at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, another major hospital in Beijing, also said that the vast majority of inpatients in his unit – perhaps more than 90 per cent – had influenza infections.
