A worrying outbreak of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is reportedly overwhelming hospitals in China, projecting images eerily similar to those witnessed in late 2019 upon the outbreak of Covid-19.
Despite concerns raised by footage showing overcrowded waiting rooms and wards, health experts here are stressing that while the situation is being monitored closely, there is no immediate cause for alarm.
But that hasn’t stopped a chorus of health experts warning us how painfully unequipped the globe is to combat the “next pandemic”.
HMPV has already spread from China to Europe, India and Australia, raising uncomfortable parallels to the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic that reshaped the modern world.
At that point in time, the virus’s spread was downplayed by Chinese authorities even as images of boarded-up homes and squads of hazmat-clad government workers filtered through on social media.
The UK has already reported a spike in HMPV cases, with data from the UK Health Security Agency revealing that as of December 23, 10 per cent of children tested for respiratory infections were found to be positive for the virus.
While the virus is already in Australia, the current circumstances do not present as serious of a threat as Covid-19.
HMPV was first detected in humans in 2001 and has thus been on the global health community’s radar for some time.
Unlike Covid-19, which took the world by surprise, HMPV is a known entity and has become the third most common respiratory virus detected in both children and adults in Australia.
The virus can cause cold-like symptoms such as cough, sore throat and fever but is generally not as dangerous as COVID-19.
While most cases are mild, more severe symptoms, including bronchitis, pneumonia, and shortness of breath can occur.
Naturally, the next big question is: are we prepared for the next global health crisis?
While the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been hard at work since the pandemic, assessing risks and bolstering its defences, the question is extremely difficult to answer.
Some argue the societal fallout and political division that came from measures implemented to curb Covid-19 were more debilitating to modern life than the virus itself.
Nevertheless, the WHO has pressed ahead with developing complex strategies to combat the next potential global health scare.
But even WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus admits that “if the next pandemic arrived today, the world would still face some of the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities”.
Meanwhile the WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove, who leads the agency’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness efforts, warned everyone to get ready for the next one.
“It’s a matter of when, not if, we will face another pandemic. The world is not ready for another massive outbreak,” she said.
The WHO has now established a Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin, which focuses on global collaboration for threat detection.
The World Bank has also provided $885 million in grants since 2022, funding 50 projects across 75 countries to “strengthen preparedness”.
That donation also follows the development of new infrastructure such as the mRNA technology transfer hub in South Africa and the Global Training Hub for Bio-manufacturing in South Korea, which aims to boost local vaccine production.
‘The world is not ready’
The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response warns that “in 2025, the world is not ready to tackle another pandemic threat”.
Even after five years of seeing the effects of radical measures imposed by governments around the globe, we are still no closer to achieving a bipartisan solution to an outbreak of a respiratory virus.
The Pandemic Preparedness panel also points to ongoing global inequalities in access to critical resources, with developing nations still struggling to secure the tools needed for a solid pandemic response to reduce overall deaths.
Epidemiologist Meg Schaeffer from the SAS Institute was even more dismissive of the globe’s pandemic safeguards post-Covid.
“No, I don’t think we’re any more prepared than we were with Covid,” she said.
“I do have confidence that we as a society know what to do … to protect each other.”
WHO’s ‘pandemic emergency’ alarm system
One critical development since the Covid-19 outbreak is the WHO’s revision of the International Health Regulations to introduce a “pandemic emergency” level.
Introduced last June, the measure ensures that countries are required to take “rapid” co-ordinated action at the earliest signs of a pandemic.
This is the WHO’s response to the muddled communication between nations witnessed during the early hours of the Covid-19 pandemic, when countries were darting in all directions figuring out ways to stop the spread on the fly.
The international community has also taken steps to prevent future crises from spiralling out of control.
In December 2021, the World Health Assembly began drafting a pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response treaty.
However, there are still sticking points, particularly when it comes to sharing emerging pathogens and their benefits, such as vaccines.
The treaty’s finalisation has been delayed until May 2025, with developing countries raising concerns about equitable access to resources and fair distribution during future health crises. (News.co.au)
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