Ahmedabad: The city on Thursday recorded its second case of human metapneumovirus (HMPV). An 80-year-old man from Vastrapur tested positive for HMPV, confirmed the health officials of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
The first case of the viral disease was that of a two-month-old girl from Rajasthan who was admitted to a city hospital.
“The patient (an 80-year-old man) is currently being treated at a private hospital in the Gurukul area with symptoms of asthma. He was admitted on Wednesday with difficulty breathing, after which he was tested, and the result turned out to be positive on Thursday. The patient is stable and under observation,” said a health department official. “The patient has no recent history of domestic or international travel.”
The report of a boy from Prantij in Sabarkantha was also found to be positive on Wednesday, taking the total confirmed HMPV cases in the state to three. According to reports, across India, over 10 cases of HMPV have been reported so far.
Dr Praveen Garg, a city-based physician, said that there was a rise in queries from patients about HMPV. “We would request all not to self-medicate. The ongoing season is witnessing a high number of viral infections due to multiple reasons. Thus, there is no need to panic or take medicines without medical advice. The literature suggests it to be a self-limiting virus with five to seven days of symptoms,” he said. “The need of the hour is to ensure the safety of the children and elderly who have relatively low immunity and those with existing conditions ranging from diabetes to pregnancy.”
Senior state health officials indicated resuming the practice of getting the daily report of cases related to influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI), which started during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sources said that ILI-SARI monitoring is the first step towards identifying potential cases of HMPV. “While a formal reporting system has not been started yet, the district-level monitoring system is in place to quickly identify and test potential cases,” said a govt official.
