How to protect yourself from HMPV in Bangladesh | DHHS issues directives for HMPV | HMPV symptoms and precautions in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has detected its first case of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) this year in a 30-year-old woman infected with the virus, according to health officials.

Halimur Rashid, Line Director of the Communicable Disease Control Programme Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said a woman from Kishoreganj, who has now also tested positive for Klebsiella Pneumoniae, a form of pneumonia.

“The woman’s condition deteriorated due to pneumonia, not HMPV,” Halimur said, adding that the patient was currently undergoing treatment at an infectious diseases hospital in Mohakhali.

HMPV, first identified in the Netherlands in 2001, spreads through direct contact between people or by touching contaminated surfaces.

HMPV is transmitted through droplets, direct contact with infected people or contaminated surfaces. According to IEDCR, infections most often occur in late winter and spring, and symptoms range from a mild cold-like illness to severe respiratory illnesses such as bronchiolitis or pneumonia.

Halimur said the infected woman is a housewife and has not traveled abroad. Her husband lives abroad but has not visited the country recently.

He said the woman lives in Narsingdi where she contracted the virus. HMPV and another bacterial infection complicated her condition somewhat.

Addressing concerns about HMPV, Halimur told The Daily Star that there is no need to panic about the virus. It has already been detected in the country and the mortality rate from this virus is very low.

He stressed that we need to be more careful by wearing masks, washing our hands, maintaining hygiene and staying hydrated.

Halimur also mentioned that people with two or three co-morbidities, as well as people under the age of five and over 65, are at higher risk of contracting this virus.

There is currently no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment against HMPV. Management focuses on supportive care, including hydration, fever reduction, and in severe cases, oxygen therapy or mechanical ventilation. According to the IEDCR, most people recover on their own within seven to ten days.

Meanwhile, the DGHS yesterday issued a seven-point directive including wearing masks and washing hands with soap and water to prevent the spread of HMPV.

Earlier on January 8, Professor Tahmina Shirin, director of IEDCR, said that HMPV was first detected in Bangladesh in 2017. Since then, it has been identified to some extent almost every year. However, no casualties have been reported so far.

Although the virus has been detected in many people so far, there are no reports of serious complications, she said, adding that there is no reason to panic about HMPV at this time.

In a statement issued that day, Bangladesh Health Watch (BHW), a civil society organization and monitoring network aimed at improving Bangladesh’s health care system, called on health authorities to strengthen surveillance, increase diagnostic capacity and ensure the availability of medical resources before the disease spreads. to the country.

On January 6, India confirmed its first three cases of HMPV in the southern states of Karnataka and Gujarat, officials and media reports said.

News of the current outbreak comes after China’s National Administration for Disease Control and Prevention announced it was testing a new reporting protocol in response to pneumonia cases, Deutsche Welle reports.