HMPV Update: No Spike In Respiratory Diseases Reported While Union Health Ministry Directs Enhanced Monitoring And Testing

Every state has been urged to increase monitoring for Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses (SARI) and Influenza Like Illness (ILI) to detect any rise in respiratory diseases due to the spread of the primarily harmless Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China, Indian Express reported.

During a meeting with officials from the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), Union health ministry officials instructed increased monitoring of SARI and ILI cases, according to a health official in Karnataka. The official further mentioned that an advisory has been issued mandating all SARI cases to be tested for HMPV and that necessary testing kits will be dispatched to the states.

"The Department of Health and Family Welfare, Karnataka government, has analysed the data of prevailing respiratory infections like common cold, ILI and SARI within the state and there is no significant increase in the reported number of cases in December 2024 compared to the previous year," the Karnataka health department said Monday (6 January).

The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) conducted a review of all states on Monday and reported no significant increase in respiratory infections across the country. However, the review noted that nine cases of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) were identified in India in December, none of which resulted in fatalities. This was prior to the 6 January report of two new HMPV cases in two infants in Bengaluru and another case in Ahmedabad.

In December 2024, the country reported a 1.3 per cent incidence rate for HMPV after testing 714 suspected cases. The month saw nine cases, including four from Puducherry, two from Odisha, and one each from Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. All of these patients have since recovered.

So far in January, three cases have been reported. A three-month-old infant from Bengaluru has been discharged, while an eight-month-old is on the road to recovery. The individual from Ahmedabad has successfully recuperated and has since been released from the hospital.

The data from IDSP indicates that the country has not experienced any abnormal increase in ILI or SARI cases. In the following days, the IDSP will keep track of the trends of ILI and SARI. Similarly, the state and district units participating in the disease surveillance program have been instructed to monitor these trends as well.