HMPV not novel, outbreak unlikely to escalate into pandemic: Top epidemiologist

Epidemiologist Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said between 2016-2018 the National Institute of Virology (NIV) enrolled about 16,000 patients of which almost 9,000 were acute respiratory illness cases and and about 7,400 were severe acute respiratory illness cases (SARI). Among them ARI patients the prevalence of HMPV was 3.4% and among SARI cases it was 2.6% he said, making it unlikely that the outbreak will escalate into a pandemic.