Chhattisgarh reports first HMPV case; 3-year-old boy tests positive

Suspecting it to be a case of HMPV, 3-year-old boy swab samples were sent to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Raipur for examination.

A three-year-old boy admitted to a hospital in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur city has been diagnosed with the human metapneumovirus (HMPV), marking the state’s first such infection, health officials said on Friday.

HMPV infection(Pixabay/Representative)

The boy, who hails from the neighbouring Korba district, was admitted to a private hospital here for a cold and cough on January 27, Chief Medical and Health Officer of Bilaspur Dr Pramod Tiwari said.

Suspecting it to be a case of HMPV, his swab samples were sent to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Raipur for examination, he said.

After tests confirmed HMPV infection, the child was moved to an ICU, separated from other patients, in the hospital, he said.

However, the child has shown no signs of improvement since admission, and we are considering shifting him to AIIMS Raipur for further treatment, he said.

Three other siblings of the child have also been kept under observation though no symptoms of infection have been found on them, the health official said.

While an alert has been issued in the Bilaspur district after the discovery of the first HMPV case, a survey is being conducted in the locality in Korba from where the child belongs, he added.