Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) cases are surging globally due to immune debt, seasonal factors, and genetic evolution, necessitating enhanced surveillance, preventive measures, and vaccine development.
This review highlights the surging global outbreak of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) and emphasizes the need for awareness and preventive measures given the lack of antiviral therapy or vaccines.
Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a respiratory virus that can cause upper and lower respiratory disease in people of all ages, especially young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems. The hMPV outbreak cases are surging in some countries, including China, India, the UK, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan, during 2024–2025. This outbreak is a concern in the global transition of infectious diseases due to several factors, including an elevated transmission rate, genetic evolution and mutation, incomplete immunity, and severe illness. This review aims to raise concerns about whether the surge of the hMPV virus will turn into another pandemic, what we need to know, and what we should do during this outbreak. We conducted a comprehensive literature search from PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus for studies published from database’s inception to June 30, 2025, using human metapneumovirus, genetic mutation, transmission, and prevention of human metapneumovirus as keywords and subsequently extracted relevant information for this review. According to recent surveillance data, hMPV cases have significantly increased worldwide, and hospitals have reported a sharp rise in respiratory-related admissions associated with the virus. There are surging hMPV infections nowadays across the globe for several reasons, including “immune debt,” seasonal factors, environmental changes, and agriculture practices such as mixed farming and climate change. Furthermore, no antiviral therapy or vaccine has been developed to combat this challenging respiratory virus. Therefore, preventive measures, awareness-raising, and campaigns have helped fight against the outbreak of hMPV. The hMPV outbreak is increasing globally nowadays. Therefore, we need to know about the details of the hMPV virus and its outbreak, including the pattern of the virus, treatment, transmission, and prevention. We should also do the hMPV outbreak by protecting ourselves and others by practicing good hygiene, seeking medical care, and practicing general respiratory illness prevention.
Tushar et al. (Fri,) conducted a review in Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infection. Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) was evaluated. Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) cases are surging globally due to immune debt, seasonal factors, and genetic evolution, necessitating enhanced surveillance, preventive measures, and vaccine development.