HMPV has no vaccine even after 24 years of its discovery | All you need to know

HMPV: After the HMPV virus's outbreak in China, India detected five cases on Monday, January 6. Amid concerns whether this COVID-like virus can trigger a pandemic, a key information is gaining attention: despite the fact that HMPV was first discovered in 2001__24 years ago--a vaccine has not been developed.

“There is no specific antiviral treatment or vaccine for HMPV,” states the Karnataka Directorate of Medical Education's latest advisory. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) also mentions that currently, there is no vaccine or medication effective against HMPV. The treatment is mostly focused on alleviating symptoms.

Dutch scholars first discovered HMPV in 2001 in nasopharyngeal aspirate samples--mucus or fluid samples collected from the upper part of throat--of children with respiratory infections caused by unknown pathogens,  according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After 24 years, there is still no vaccine for HMPV.

Why is there no HMPV vaccine

According to a study ‘Human Metapneumovirus in Adults,' published by the National Library of Medicine, several ‘in vitro’(controlled) and animal studies had been conducted to investigate the development of an HMPV vaccine. However, no human studies have been performed yet and no vaccine is available up till now.

The journal further mentioned that although the results of studies performed in rodent and non-human primate models were promising, very little research has been performed in human volunteers. As a result, there is no vaccine available for HMPV.

When HMPV got severe in the US

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s respiratory virus surveillance systems, HMPV cases had spiked in the US in 2023, during the Spring season. Most people who caught it probably didn’t even know they had it, reported CNN.

Diane Davison, a 59-year-old woman who was diagnosed with the HMPV virus, came to know about it only after two weeks after contracting the virus.

“I would go into violent, violent coughing to the point where I was literally almost throwing up," Davison told CNN. Her incessant coughing had forced her to believe that she had COVID-19. However, after six negative COVID tests, and several blood tests, Davison finally got to know she was infected with HMPV.