{"id":209275,"date":"2025-01-07T00:19:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T00:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/07\/karnataka-govt-issues-advisory-for-hmpv-doctor-say-early-screening-must\/"},"modified":"2025-01-07T00:19:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T00:19:38","slug":"karnataka-govt-issues-advisory-for-hmpv-doctor-say-early-screening-must","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/07\/karnataka-govt-issues-advisory-for-hmpv-doctor-say-early-screening-must\/","title":{"rendered":"Karnataka govt issues advisory for HMPV, doctor say early-screening must"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Karnataka<\/div>\n
Two cases of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV<\/a>) were reported in Bengaluru on Monday in two infants, a 3-month-old female and an 8-month-old male, who tested positive for the virus at the city’s private Baptist Hospital. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said both cases had no history of international travel and while the female has been discharged from the hospital the male boy is recovering. Both children have a history of bronchopneumonia. ICMR identified the cases through routine surveillance for multiple respiratory viral pathogens as part of its ongoing efforts to monitor respiratory illnesses across the country. The apex body added that it will continue to track trends in HMPV circulation throughout the year.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah speaking to the press after the ICMR announcement said that the state government is taking appropriate precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. \u201cThe Department of Health and Family Welfare along with Medical Education has been instructed to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus and are holding meetings on the matter,\u201d he said, adding that though it is not a dangerous virus, all the support will be provided to the departments.<\/p>\n

The Medical Education Department held a meeting with directors of all district medical colleges, providing instructions on handling potential new cases on Monday. The department later released an advisory stating that HMPV causes flu-like symptoms including cough, fever, nasal congestion, and shortness of breath. In more severe cases, it can lead to bronchitis or pneumonia, especially in young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no specific antiviral treatment or vaccine for HMPV. Management focuses on alleviating symptoms with supportive care like rest, hydration, and over-the-counter medications for pain, fever, and congestion. Severe cases might require hospitalization for oxygen therapy or IV fluids,\u201d Medical Education Minister, Sharanprakash Patil said, adding that it is a mild virus.<\/p>\n


The ICMR in its statement said India\u2019s recent preparedness drills conducted across the states indicate that the country is well-equipped to handle any potential increase in respiratory illnesses.<\/p>\n

Doctors: \u2018Screen patients early-on with respiratory ailments for HMPV\u2019
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Subject matter experts also reiterated that the virus is not fatal and recommended COVID-19-like precautions such as avoiding crowded places, wearing masks, practicing proper hand hygiene, and covering your mouth when sneezing or coughing. \u201cPeople need to understand that HMPV is no different from other respiratory viruses. If we follow these precautions, the risk of spread can be minimized,\u201d Senior Consultant of Internal Medicine and Allergologist at Altius Hospital Dr Darshana Reddy said.She added that early detection and timely treatment can help manage complications and avoid hospitalizations or ICU stays. The allergologist also recommended the government should conduct rapid screenings. \u201c Right now, we don\u2019t have a vaccine for HMPV, unlike COVID-19. More testing will also aid research and help us develop a vaccine in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Internal Medicine Director at Fortis Hospital, Bengaluru, Dr Sheela Chakravarthy said \u201cIt\u2019s still too early to draw direct comparisons to COVID-19. So far, we haven\u2019t seen the kind of severity or widespread quarantines and deaths that occurred with COVID-19. For now, there\u2019s no indication that this is as worrisome as COVID-19. However, we need more time to observe its patterns, especially how it evolves and impacts populations in different regions.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that HPMV has been part of viral panels that test for respiratory infections, like the biofire panel, which includes 16 to 17 viruses. \u201cHowever, it\u2019s not commonly tested because it hasn\u2019t surfaced significantly before. Now that it\u2019s becoming more noticeable, we need to test more patients and study its response in the Indian population.\u201d
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two cases of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) were reported in Bengaluru on Monday in two infants, a 3-month-old female and an 8-month-old male, who tested positive for the virus at the city’s private Baptist Hospital. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said both cases had no history of international travel and while the female has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img.etimg.com\/photo\/msid-116998215,imgsize-69370.cms","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[602],"tags":[1997,1009,165170,3056,163215,165168,164606,165169,165167,1678,5265],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209275"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209277,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209275\/revisions\/209277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}