An eight-year-old boy from Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district has tested positive for human metapneumovirus (HMPV), raising the total number of cases in the state to three, an official confirmed on Friday.
The eight-year-old boy, from a family of farm laborers in Prantij taluka, tested positive for HMPV in a private laboratory. However, health authorities had sent his blood samples to a government lab for confirmation.
Currently admitted to a private hospital in Himmatnagar, the child had previously been considered a suspected HMPV case.
“The government lab confirmed on Friday that the boy is infected with HMPV. He is receiving treatment, and his condition is stable,” said Sabarkantha District Collector Ratankanvar Gadhavicharan.
Doctors at the hospital informed reporters that the boy is currently on a ventilator.
Gujarat reported its first case of HMPV on January 6, when a two-month-old boy from Rajasthan was diagnosed with the viral infection. The disease, which causes symptoms like fever, nasal congestion, runny nose, and cough, was treated, and the boy was later discharged from the hospital.
On Thursday, an 80-year-old man in Ahmedabad city tested positive for the viral infection. The patient, who has a history of asthma, is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
HMPV, identified in 2001, is a member of the Paramyxoviridae family and is closely related to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). It spreads through respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing, as well as by touching contaminated surfaces or coming into direct contact with infected individuals.
