HMPV in India: How to recognise Covid-like pandemic? Are we prepared for it? All you need to know
Live MintReports about the spread of HMPV, or Human Metapneumovirus, in China have raised alarm worldwide, with many fearing that this rapid transmission of the virus may lead to a Covid-19-like pandemic or a similar “health emergency”. Meanwhile, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, “Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season.” Apart from China, cases of HMPV have also been reported in Malaysia. A pandemic is a stage after an "outbreak" and "epidemic.” The Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health defined an outbreak as “a spike in the number of cases of disease.” It said an epidemic is an ongoing transmission of disease with no clear endpoint. "The term pandemic refers to the "scope of cases of the disease, not the severity of those cases," Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health said in 2020. He said, "If the next pandemic arrived today, the world would still face some of the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities that gave COVID-19 a foothold five years ago."