Why ‘Human metapneumovirus’ is trending on Google Trends in January 2025?

financialexpress.com:

After COVID-19, another respiratory illness has become a cause of concern. Currently, several countries including China and India are witnessing a surge in cases of the infection. According to Google Trends data, there is a spike in search terms like ‘Human metapneumovirus’ and ‘HMPV virus symptoms’.

The data shows that on January 6 2025 ‘Human metapneumovirus’ was the most-searched term. On this day, multiple positive cases of the HMPV infection especially among infants were reported from several parts of the country.

Since then, there has been fluctuation search patterns with many highs and lows.

According to the Google Trends data, people from Manipur searched ‘Human metapneumovirus’ the most followed by Sikkim, Karnataka, Andaman Nicobar Islands and Telangana.

Internet users have also searched for Related Topics like Symptom, Cause, Mortality Rate, HMPV virus etc. There was also a spike in queries like hmpv virus in India, hmpv cases in India, hmpv india cases, hmpv virus cases in india, hmpv cases in china etc.

According to Cleveland Clinic, HMPV is a respiratory disease that causes flu or cold-like symptoms. However, it can increase risks or lead to more serious complications like bronchitis or pneumonia, particularly among the elderly, young children, and immunocompromised people. Health experts, maintain that outbreaks of HMPV are concentrated during colder seasons.

Amid the surge in cases of respiratory illness in China, The country’s centre for disease control (CDC) has warned people to take precautions with health and hygiene, but has also pushed back against online claims of overwhelmed hospitals and fears of another Covid-like pandemic, The Guardian reported.