While cases are climbing in China, the situation is very different from what it was when Covid-19 emerged five years ago, medical experts say. HMPV is common and decades old.

Posts have flooded social media warning that a new pandemic could be starting in China. Here's why scientists think those fears might be overblown.

TWO babies have been hospitalised after testing positive for the HMPV virus in India as fears of a Covid-style outbreak spread across the region. This comes days after reports of a mysterious

Professor Paul Hunter from the University of East Anglia notes that almost every child contracts HMPV by five years of age, with reinfections occurring throughout life. “HMPV typically causes cold-like symptoms that recover by themselves within 2 to 5 days. Severe cases are rare but can occur in vulnerable groups,” he says.

Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV), the 'mystery illness' surging through China eerily shares many similarities to Covid-19 - but there's a few key differences between the two viruses