“Human Interstitial Pneumonia Virus: Symptoms, Prevention, and Treatment Tips for Parents”

As the saying goes, “the mother’s face changes after spring”. Due to the unpredictable weather in spring, it has also become a season of high incidence of many viruses, including influenza virus, enterovirus, adenovirus and human metapneumonia virus. Ji Xin, director of the Department of Pediatric Infection at Mackay Memorial Hospital, pointed out that Mackay Hospital has recently used antigen analysis to collect statistics on the trend of epidemiological infections among children in the hospital, and found that the most common virus since May is “human interstitial pneumonia virus”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/lb6u2f7AkcU

Is it a cold or “Human Interstitial Pneumonia Virus”?Physicians teach “four points” preliminary judgment

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is mostly transmitted through droplet and contact, and it is more likely to occur at both ends of the age group with lower immunity (young children and the elderly). Director Ji Xin said that after hMPV enters the human body, it will replicate and multiply in the upper respiratory tract, causing runny nose, coughing… and other upper respiratory symptoms. About one-fifth of the confirmed patients may also have lower respiratory symptoms at the same time, and there are also cases of infection in a small number of ethnic groups. Severe cases require hospitalization for further treatment.

Since children cannot express or describe their physical discomfort, Director Ji Xin reminds parents to observe whether their children are infected with hMPV from the following points:
1. High fever persists for five days
2. Shortness of breath or wheezing (more than 50 breaths per minute for one-year-old children; more than 3 or 40 breaths per minute for children over two years old)
3. Loss of appetite (sudden decrease in milk intake by half or more)
4. Restless sleep

Director Ji Xin mentioned that the acute phase of hMPV infection is generally about one week. However, it is necessary to pay attention to whether it is combined with otitis media, sinusitis, pneumonia, etc. during the period, or even causes secondary bacterial infections, especially in April and May every year. During the high epidemic period, parents are urged to pay more attention to hand hygiene when taking their children out, so as to reduce the risk of infection from the source.

Text, pictures/Lai Xinping
Film / Zhang Shuyun, Lai Xinping

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