00:00People who have some kind of flu-like symptoms should avoid going through these gatherings.
00:12Whether it's HMPV, whether it's COVID, because COVID is also there. It's not that COVID will disappear.
00:21For HMPV, there is no vaccine as yet, and there is no treatment of the virus itself.
00:28And there is no recommended antiviral therapy for this virus.
00:34Human Meta-Pneumovirus, HMPV, this is a name that many have now become aware of.
00:42And as soon as there have been cases found in India also, the precautionary measures are on.
00:49The states are making all the preparedness so as to counter the situation, not to spread panic, but to spread awareness.
00:57And to add to that further, today we are joined by Dr. M.C. Misra.
01:01He is the former director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIMS, in New Delhi.
01:05Dr. Misra, thank you so much for speaking to One India.
01:08Thank you so much, Pankaj, for inviting me for this discussion on Human Meta-Pneumovirus,
01:19popularly known as HMPV, as you have mentioned.
01:25So that has recently generated a lot of interest in the media in India.
01:32Following the upsurge, or I would say, a cluster of cases detected in China, one of the regions of China,
01:43that has naturally pressed a panic button around the globe.
01:47And also in India, which is not misplaced.
01:51Because, as they say, even the milk-burning chhachh can be swallowed.
01:58So, everybody has this apprehension.
02:01Is it going to be, that's the big question, basically, is it going to be COVID-2?
02:08Right, right.
02:09I think that's the worry which all of us carry.
02:14So, sir, if we talk about this virus, what awareness do we have about it?
02:20And how does it primarily spread in the individuals, if I may ask?
02:23Because the cases that we see in Bangalore, infants and young child has that without any travel history.
02:31So, any breakthrough on that?
02:33But I would say, Pankaj ji, that it is only that it has been detected.
02:38And now, it has been published or told about that they have picked up this case.
02:45The virus has been amongst us for a long time.
02:51It was first named in US in 1958.
02:58Then became more popular in 2001, when there were some more cases were detected in the US.
03:05They have the data actually.
03:07US is that way, is a country where you will find data on everything.
03:12So, HMPV also has been happening there along with flu, along with other respiratory viruses.
03:20It's a respiratory virus, upper respiratory virus.
03:24It comes from the same family of viruses, which is COVID, flu, and many other viruses which are unnamed, many are named.
03:33And also, it also has the same symptoms as COVID or common flu.
03:41That it will start with fever, it will start with headache, body ache, running nose, etc., cough.
03:49But it does not affect the lungs as much as COVID affected the lungs.
03:54And the illness is mild, as reported in literature, in majority, I would say 99.9% individuals.
04:04Yes, as you rightly said, it is somewhere had predilection for young, very young children, like two years or less.
04:14Or elderly, elderly age group, particularly in those who have the immunity compromised for some reason.
04:24Whether they are on cancer chemotherapy, some of them, or on dialysis, or on some other immunosuppressive medication.
04:34So I think that is where it is.
04:36And most patients, they recover without any consequence of it within five to seven days.
04:44And its incubation period is also two to five days.
04:47And it is spread, mode of spread is also basically human to human contact, if we come in contact closely.
04:56And so that is something which is very well known.
05:01And only thing that when we do, anybody presents in hospital with a fever, and when they investigate, they do a panel of viral serology.
05:11And it is included in there.
05:14So they have detected because these families have not traveled anywhere.
05:18So only thing they have picked up, because there is awareness about it.
05:24So that is why it is causing some concern.
05:28But the only concern still will remain, as was in COVID, that COVID also was like that.
05:34But whether China did some mischief in their lab to mutate it in a manner that it affected people more adversely.
05:45So if this kind of a thing, like what we call it, the biologic warfare, so that we don't know yet.
05:53It is early days.
05:54And from China, getting any credible information is not that easy.
06:00And at least this has come out.
06:03And that's why WHO is also concerned.
06:06That's why we are talking about it.
06:08Right.
06:09Absolutely.
06:10Very, you know, important aspects you touched upon, Dr. Mishra, that similar symptoms, but not so risky.
06:19And age group also, you mentioned that to where, you know, the kids, the infants or the elderly who have lesser immunity or immunity deficiency is there.
06:28When it comes to individuals like you and me, what preventive measures can we take in general parlance?
06:37Like schools and offices where there are lots of people, because there is human to human interaction also from close quarters also.
06:45What measures would you suggest that we should deploy as of now, personally?
06:50Measures are the same.
06:52They are no different than what we discussed extensively daily in COVID pandemic.
06:57That we must mask ourselves.
07:01We must keep a distance if somebody has got flu like symptoms.
07:06Do not go into the gatherings, large gatherings.
07:12And then hand hygiene, not touching your face with the hand.
07:17So all those preventive measures remain the same.
07:22But this is our behavior.
07:24Like I, when I travel, I don't use mask nowadays, but my wife uses it.
07:30And she is very particular about it.
07:32So I think that is where, because it is like common flu also can have clusters of cases.
07:39Sometimes we have seen that.
07:41And bad flu, where your voice also ends because of the bad throat or pharyngitis.
07:49So much laryngopharyngitis.
07:51So I think prevention is the keeping a distance.
07:56Isolating individual in the family.
07:59And also basically not coming in contact and all that.
08:06But I don't think the same, with the same strictness, we will say, like common flu.
08:13We don't isolate in the manner we used to isolate in COVID.
08:17You are right.
08:19In COVID also that was given up.
08:21Subsequently in COVID also, it was not that every, if you remember in the first wave in 2020.
08:31When there were lockdowns, etc.
08:34Then we were all very concerned and apprehensive about, because we didn't know the behavior.
08:40Right.
08:41Naturally, it took some time.
08:44And then we came to know that somebody loses their smell.
08:47It's a mild disease.
08:49If somebody has a loose motions, it's a mild disease when it involves the gastrointestinal tract.
08:55So all those things were there.
08:57For HMPV, it is mentioned that largely it causes a mild disease.
09:04Right.
09:05But any viral illness in a given individual at extremes of age or very young children or those who are compromised immunity.
09:16Any viral illness can become serious.
09:19Otherwise also.
09:21Dr. Misra, one final question.
09:23We have the lessons from 2020 and 2021.
09:28You and your whole team threw a lot of light on the changing patterns of COVID-19.
09:36The virus, the strain and everything.
09:38Have we learned the lessons successfully?
09:42As far as the medical team is concerned, yes, there have been upgrades.
09:46There have been certain apparatus in place to counter any situation like this in the future.
09:52As an individual, as the country as vast as India, have we learned something or do we need to reinvent the wheel here?
09:59No, I think we learned a lot of lessons that how it is important to protect oneself and others.
10:08And that's what we emphasized in COVID pandemic.
10:13Another thing which I want to tell, there is no vaccine for this yet.
10:18Yes.
10:19HMPV, there is no vaccine as yet.
10:22And there is no treatment of the virus itself.
10:25And there is no recommended antiviral therapy for this virus.
10:29So because it causes mild disease.
10:32So it is recommended that you bring your fever down by taking antifever medication like paracetamol, which is the safest medicine.
10:41Also take plenty of fluids and keep your nutrition, your health intact.
10:48And don't get panicky about this disease.
10:52I think that's what we were telling in COVID also.
10:55Although some people, we lost a lot of people whom we knew and a lot of others.
11:00That's a fact.
11:02But it was a pandemic.
11:04So we are yet not thinking that it will turn out to be that kind of a pandemic epidemic in China and then pandemic across the world.
11:14Because all these cases which have been identified in India is just a viral panel.
11:20They have detected this virus, which we all know that it is there in the environment.
11:26And any of us can catch it.
11:28And we must be catching it.
11:30One thing is also somebody has suggested that maybe we have some immunity for a lot of viruses.
11:37And this may be one of them.
11:39Yeah, so I think we have to, as we discussed those preventive measures, take those otherwise also.
11:48Because we have a lot of pollution, density of population in the country is far more than Western countries.
11:56And even in China, if you go, the crowd, although their population is almost equal to India.
12:05Now we have crossed China.
12:07But you don't see those kind of a crowded places as we see in our urban India.
12:13You would remember that we had the rural India did not have that worse COVID cases.
12:22Because of the low density of population.
12:27Yes, population was not there, migration movement was also not that was there.
12:31That's right.
12:32Definitely.
12:33Thank you so much.
12:35Thank you, Dr. Mishra.
12:36As always, you know, your input is well received here.
12:39And I'm sure that viewers would also benefit.
12:42And you're right when it comes to this particular virus, HMPV.
12:45It has been there for sure.
12:47But the treatment as of now, not any specific thing.
12:50Prevention, I would say, and precaution is the cure.
12:54One more thing I would add that don't get panicky if one case here, then two cases there,
12:59maybe more cases in Delhi and other places because they are not,
13:04they are basically our own patients without any contact.
13:10So it is only the detection is increasing because of this China thing.
13:15That's why because there is a viral panel which detects this, which is a good thing in a way.
13:21So I would reassure that this is only detection because this first case,
13:26Bangalore case, this child, this family never traveled anywhere.
13:30Right.
13:31Similarly, the other cases, also two cases which have been detected, they also have no travel history.
13:36So it is only now they are detecting this virus.
13:40So let's hope that all those preventions at the airport and other places would help us,
13:49those who are traveling.
13:51And I would say particularly in context of Kumbh, as we were discussing about Kumbh,
13:55Mela, that I think people who have some kind of symptoms like flu-like symptoms
14:02should avoid going to these gatherings themselves.
14:06So they can actually help a great deal to prevent the spread of flu-like viruses,
14:13whether it's HMPV, whether it's COVID, because COVID is also there.
14:18It's not that COVID has disappeared.
14:20Very much there. Yes, you're right.
14:22Very much amongst us and other respiratory viruses.
14:26Absolutely.
14:27No, sir, definitely.
14:28Thank you so much.
14:29I mean, I remember this was the time in 2020 when COVID had also started.
14:33But this one, HMPV, as you mentioned, not so scary.
14:38No need to panic also.
14:39And yes, any public gathering should be avoided, those who are symptomatic of it.
14:43Thank you so much, Dr. Mishra, for speaking to us and enlightening our viewers with the HMPV virus.
14:50Thank you. Thank you. Bye-bye.
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