Latest news with #hMPV
The Irish Sun
19-05-2025
- Health
- The Irish Sun
Girl, 8, ‘frothed at the mouth' and died just DAYS after common virus ‘infected her brain'
A YOUNG girl was left "frothing at the mouth" after catching a common virus, which doctors suspect spread to her brain. The eight-year-old rapidly deteriorated after suffering a series of seizures, which eventually left her "brain dead". 1 An eight-year-old girl suffered seizures after it was suspected that a Covid virus spread to her brain Credit: Getty Chinese medics handling her care said a Covid-19 infection could be to blame, after she tested positive for the virus. "Although Covid-19 typically presents with respiratory symptoms, it can also lead to severe neurological manifestations in children," medics from the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Centre - led by Dr Tiantian Xu - wrote. There have been increasing case reports of the virus causing brain damage - including of acute necrotising encephalopathy, a rare but serious brain disease that can develop following a viral infection such as flu or Covid. But there are "gaps" in doctors' knowledge of the best way to treat children experiencing "rapid-onset neurological decline" as a result of the Covid, the report authors noted. They detailed the case of the eight-year-old girl in the journal She developed acute necrotising encephalopathy after being infected with Covid-19, which ultimately resulted in "brain death". The child's first symptoms included a temperature - just over 38°C - as well as a headache, a bumpy rash on her arms, legs and torso, and vomiting. There didn't seem to be an "identifiable trigger" for the symptoms, the report authors said. Most read in Health The little girl was taken to a local health clinic, where she was given medication that failed to ease her symptoms. The next day, the eight-year-old began experiencing her first tonic-clonic seizure that had her "frothing at the mouth". Is little-known hMPV virus ravaging China the NEW Covid? These kinds of seizures cause muscles to stiffen arms and usually the legs begin to jerk rapidly and rhythmically The tot's "limbs stiffened and shook" and her right eye blinked during the five-minute seizure, but she returned "to a relatively good mental state" when it stopped. This prompted the girl to be transferred to a hospital in Guangzhou. She was still alert and responsive when she was admitted but suffered another one-minute-long seizure later that night, which left her vomiting afterwards. What is acute necrotising encephalopathy? Acute necrotising encephalopathy is a rare type of brain disease that occurs following a viral infection such as the flu. People with the condition display typical symptoms of an infection at first, such as fever, cough, congestion, vomiting, and diarrhoea, for a few days. Following these flu-like symptoms, people develop neurological problems, such as seizures, hallucinations and difficulty coordinating movements. Eventually, most affected patients go into a coma, which usually lasts for a number of weeks. Approximately a third of people don't survive their illness and subsequent neurological decline. Of those who do survive, about half have permanent brain damage due to tissue necrosis, resulting in impairments in walking, speech, and other basic functions. Source: Doctors gave her antibiotics to combat a suspected infection, as well as meds to curb a build up of acids in her blood that was revealed by tests. At midnight that night, the child became drowsy and she suffered a third seizure at 7am the next morning. Medics were able to stop it by giving her diazepam, but the little girl fell into a "comatose state". Tests suggested that there was a buildup of pressure in her brain. An hour after her seizure, the tot suffered She was later transferred to the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Centre for continued treatment. There, medics conducted a number of tests. Samples of her spit tested positive for Covid-19, while doctors found traces of rotavirus in her stool. Meanwhile, a blood sample came back positive for Gram-positive cocci bacteria. "Despite aggressive therapy, the patient remained in profound coma without sedation", the report authors said. She didn't appear to feel pain, couldn't breathe for herself and didn't display "brainstem reflexes". Two more evaluations over the next couple days led doctors to determine that the tot had been left brain dead by the virus-induced seizures - she was declares as such nine days after being admitted. "Rotavirus was weakly positive in the stool sample, and it too can precipitate various neurological complications, including seizures and encephalitis," the report authors wrote. "However, Covid-19 is the more likely dominant factor in this severe encephalopathy - though a co-infection scenario cannot be fully excluded. "Without autopsy or direct pathogen detection in the brain tissue, the definitive culprit remains uncertain." Medic's said the girl's case goes against the assumption that children and babies experience milder Covid infections. "Our case and other published reports demonstrate that some paediatric patients can develop catastrophic neurological outcomes," they wrote. But medics noted that they couldn't "definitively prove" that a Covid virus caused acute necrotising encephalopathy, as they didn't detect the virus in the girl's brain tissue. Read more on the Irish Sun "This case highlights the urgent need for early recognition of neurological complications in children with Covid-19," the report authors concluded. "Clinicians should maintain heightened vigilance for atypical presentations, including rapid neurological deterioration post-infection."
Medscape
14-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Bronchiolitis in Late Spring? Think Human Metapneumovirus
It is mid-April in a pediatrician's office in the southeastern United States. A worried mother holds a 3-month-old on her lap. The baby has audible wheezes, clear nasal discharge, and mild nasal flaring. The symptoms began shortly after the child started group childcare. Kristina A. Bryant, MD 'This can't be RSV,' the mother insisted. 'She had the RSV shot before she left the newborn nursery, and you shared with me how effective that is.' The pediatrician consulted the electronic health record and confirmed that the baby had received nirsevimab on the second day of life. During a discussion with the family during a prenatal consultation, he had shared the results of a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) New Vaccine Surveillance Network during the 2023-2024 respiratory virus season. Among infants entering their first respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) season, nirsevimab was 90% effective at preventing RSV-associated hospitalization. The pediatrician affirmed that nirsevimab protects most babies from getting sick enough to be hospitalized with RSV but gently reminded the mom that it might not prevent every infection. 'Surely this isn't flu,' the mother said. 'I had the flu shot during my pregnancy. That's supposed to protect my baby during the first 6 months of life.' The pediatrician recalled a paper published in JAMA Pediatrics that found that a flu shot during pregnancy reduced the risk for flu in babies younger than 6 months of age by one third. Flu hospitalizations were reduced by approximately 40%. While praising the mom for doing everything she could to protect her baby against viral infections, he noted that vaccination reduced but did not completely eliminate the risk for infection, and influenza, especially influenza B, was still circulating in the community. He recommended testing for RSV, flu, and COVID-19. The mother was relieved when the test was negative. The baby was discharged home with supportive care and the diagnosis of viral bronchiolitis. The following day, the baby worsened and presented to a local emergency department. An extended viral panel performed on a nasal swab revealed the diagnosis: human metapneumovirus (hMPV). Like RSV, hMPV is a member of the Pneumoviridae family, and clinical manifestations are often similar. Just like RSV, hMPV is a common cause of bronchiolitis in children. It can also cause upper respiratory tract infections, croup, pneumonia, otitis media, and asthma exacerbations. hMPV infections are common, if less well known to parents than RSV and influenza. Nearly all children are infected at least once by age 5. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the incidence of hospitalizations attributable to hMPV in young children is lower than RSV but similar to influenza and human parainfluenza type 3 (hPIV3). Children hospitalized with hMPV tend to be older than those hospitalized with RSV. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, hMPV typically circulated from early January to early June, peaking in late March. By comparison, RSV season started earlier (typically late October), peaked in late December, and trailed off in April. There was considerable overlap with RSV circulation. Co-infections with these two viruses are well-described and may be associated with more severe disease. Seasonality for both hMPV and RSV was disrupted during the pandemic, and according to a recent CDC report that analyzed data from the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS), less than 5 weeks of co-circulation of RSV and hMPV occurred in most regions of the US during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons. Notably, typical hMPV patterns have returned. Clinicians curious about hMPV circulation in their region can check out the NRVESS interactive dashboard at Ultimately, the baby with hMPV returned to the pediatrician for follow-up and the mother wanted to talk about what might have been done to prevent this infection. No vaccines are currently available to prevent hMPV, but candidate vaccines are being studied in adults and children. The safety and immunogenicity of an investigational combination mRNA vaccine targeting both hMPV and hPIV3 was recently evaluated in a phase 1b study. In children 12-59 months who were seropositive for both viruses at baseline, the investigational vaccine was well tolerated and boosted antibody levels. A study comparing two investigational live attenuated hPIV3/hMPV vaccines in children aged ≥ 24 months to < 60 months of age is ongoing. For now, the best ways to prevent hMPV are the commonsense approaches recommended for the prevention of all viral respiratory tract infections. Wash hands frequently with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes and mouth (or the eyes and mouth of your baby) with unwashed hands. Clean surfaces regularly that might be contaminated with hMPV, such as shared toys. Finally, stay away from sick people if you can. That recommendation, the mom and the pediatrician agreed, is the one that often seems impossible.
The Independent
05-02-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Doctor defends decision not to give antibiotics to baby before death
A doctor treating a premature baby has defended the decision not to administer him with antibiotics the day before he died, an inquest heard. Ben Condon, who was two months old, died at Bristol Children's Hospital in April 2015 after developing a respiratory illness. Dr Suzy Dean was treating Ben at the hospital's paediatric intensive care unit for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and metapneumovirus (hMPV) – similar to the common cold in adults. She said that although Ben was being ventilated and was unwell, his condition was stable. Avon Coroner's Court heard that the following day, April 17, Ben's condition deteriorated, and he suffered two cardiac arrests before passing away. It later emerged that before his death Ben had also developed a pseudomonas bacterial infection. The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the children's hospital, admitted their failure to give Ben timely antibiotics contributed to his death. Dr Dean told the inquest that doctors always recognised there was a risk of a baby developing a bacterial infection, but Ben's presentation on April 16 was stable. Assistant Coroner Robert Sowersby asked whether there was a 'missed opportunity' not to test Ben's blood for a bacterial infection on any day between April 12 and 16. 'I find that difficult because looking back on what we know now, I know there was an infection which was unexpected, but I don't believe he showed signs of an infection on April 16,' Dr Dean replied. 'I think it would have been nice to have an extra set of bloods to reassure me. 'I am not saying Ben is fine, because he has gone ARDS, he has got significant ventilation requirements, and he is very much in an ICU setting. 'But there wasn't a paradigm shift in how he was presenting.' Dr Dean explained that Ben's body temperature was fluctuating, but that alone was not an indicator of an infection. 'To be honest. it didn't particularly concern me, rightly or wrongly, and I appreciate the family have a strong view on that,' she told the hearing. 'It is one factor in his care. That in itself doesn't tell me that he is developing an infection.' Dr Dean was quizzed on other signs of infection in a baby, such as rising C-reactive protein levels in the blood and the 'end of bed' observations. Ben's father, Allyn Condon, a former Olympic athlete, has told the inquest that his son was visibly deteriorating in front of him between April 14 and 16. Jennifer MacLeod, representing the Condon family, asked Dr Dean: 'That's another indication that his infection is getting worse?' The witness replied: 'Yes it would be, but the difficulty is that I didn't share that view that he was changing that significantly from the end of the bed. 'We had fluctuations in the amount of fluid he was carrying, and you can see slightly puffy eyes and there were a few periods where the diuretics were increased just to try and manage that. 'It's what's expected and not expected in terms of his colour, how he handles and responds to being touched and moved. 'How does to look to me? Is he warm? Is he cold? That's the sort of subtlety you only get by touching and that is difficult to get across in the notes. 'I didn't feel he was changing.' Ms MacLeod suggested Ben was getting worse the day before he died because of a bacterial infection. 'I don't agree with that. There are other markers that we have not talked about as well,' Dr Dean said. 'Two other consultants examined him on the afternoon of April 16 and neither of them felt anything else needed to be changed, it's not just my view on that day. 'He didn't look unwell from the end of the bed, and I appreciate his family feel otherwise. That was just my view at the time. 'The thing about paediatric intensive care is that Ben was actually quite a stable patient in that he wasn't doing anything that I didn't expect. 'Yes, we he had ARDS, and yes, his ventilation was getting worse, not better. But he was stable around that. 'Someone of Ben's age is not going to look stable if they have got sepsis, it just doesn't look like that. 'Regardless of what I saw and thought, I did have two other colleagues look at him that day. Three of us were not concerned that we needed to escalate his treatment.' Dr Dean told the court she had reflected on whether the antibiotics should have been administered sooner. 'I know what I did on that day is different to what some of the experts have suggested, for example,' she said. 'But I think, and I know I keep saying that every child is at risk of secondary infection, but if we treated every child that had a change of x-ray and the changes we saw in Ben with antibiotics, then we would be treating with antibiotics all the time and that's just not the right thing to do. 'We have rely on what we are seeing and if things change, reassess. 'You cannot put someone on antibiotics because there is a risk of it, because every child is at risk of it.' The inquest continues.
BBC News
04-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Ben Condon's father accuses Bristol doctors of 'cover-up'
The father of a baby who died in hospital claims doctors "intentionally" did not disclose his son had a fatal infection until after he was Condon was eight weeks old when he developed a bacterial infection in April 2015, but his parents were told his death in the Bristol Children's Hospital was because of a virus, the second inquest into his death has father Allyn Condon has accused the trust involved of a cover-up. He said the harm caused due to not being told the correct information "cannot be underestimated." University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust has previously admitted a failure to give Ben timely antibiotics contributed to his death.A previous inquest originally recorded his death as being caused by acute respiratory distress syndrome, human metapneumovirus and prematurity, which was quashed by the High Court, after new evidence emerged.A new inquest that started on Monday, and Allyn Condon read a written statement to it on Tuesday detailing Ben's parents' experience."Losing a child is a tragedy in any circumstances," Mr Condon read."But in this case, that tragedy has been compounded by the fact that we have at all stages been faced with a failure to be transparent and straightforward about the circumstances that led up to Ben's death." The inquest heard that Ben developed a cough on 9 April, and on 10 April his parents became took him to Weston General Hospital before he was transferred to Bristol Children's Hospital the following was diagnosed with hMPV – similar to the common cold in adults – and was later found to have acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).Mr Condon said he was reassured by Dr Suzanne Dean that if Ben's condition worsened, he would be prescribed antibiotics, but this did not happen until 17 April – the day he died."We believe that had Dr Dean done what she told us she would do on 16 April and gave Ben antibiotics, he would be alive today," Mr Condon told the inquest. 'Waited until cremation' In a meeting after Ben's death, Mr Condon said his parents were "misled" by doctors who wrongly told them that blood cultures and blood tests had been performed on 16 were prescribed at around 11:00 GMT on 17 April, but not administered until 20:00 GMT, by which point Ben had suffered a cardiac his death his parents were told a post-mortem examination would not be added that Ben would not have been cremated if his parents had been aware that he had a bacterial infection or had been diagnosed with ARDS."It is our belief that the trust intentionally waited until we had cremated Ben before disclosing any information to us about a secondary bacterial infection," he told the inquest is expected to end in three weeks' time.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
HMPV: Virus cases on the rise in UK as doctors issue ‘mask up' warning
The rate of positive tests for a virus that swept hospitals in China is on the rise in the England, according to official figures. Latest UK Health Security Agency data show one in 20 (5 per cent) of hospital swabs for respiratory infections in England came back positive for human metaphneumovirus (HMPV) in the week ending January 19. It's the highest recorded rate of the virus so far this winter season, and above the 4.18 per cent of cases recorded at the start of 2024 - but still well below the 10 per cent recorded in 2021. UKHSA, which does not publish case numbers, said the level of HMPV in England is currently 'medium' based on the almost 8,000 samples tested. Doctors have urged people with symptoms of a respiratory illness to wear a face mask when out in public. The age group with the highest proportion of HMPV cases was those aged 80 and over, soaring to 7.3 per cent and well above pre-Christmas levels. Cases have also risen to about 7 per cent in children up to the age of five. From GP swaps, 1.9 per cent came back positive for HMPV. Earlier this year photos and videos of people wearing masks in hospitals in China emerged as the virus swept through northern Chinese provinces over winter, particularly affecting younger children. Reports of overcrowding in Chinese hospitals related to the outbreak sparked some alarm, and the European Union began monitoring cases. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said while cases across Europe were not unusual for this time of year, it would continue to assess the situation. HMPV is a common virus that cause cold-like symptoms, but can be serious for vulnerable people including the elderly and young children. Experts say that the virus is neither new, nor poses a threat to global health. The virus spreads through direct contact with infected individuals or by touching contaminated surfaces, experts say. The virus was discovered in 2001 by Dutch scientists, and has since been found worldwide. Earlier this month Dr Conal Watson, a consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said cases of HMPV typically peak in January. 'Most people have had hMPV by the time they are five years old and catch it again throughout their lives,' he said. In cases of mild illness, cases normally clear up on their own. Symptoms can include: A cough, runny nose, nasal congestion Sore throat Wheezing Shortness of breath Athsma flare ups In more serious cases, HMPV symptoms can include: Acute bronchitis Pneumonia Dr Watson said people should help reduce the spread by washing their hands regularly and catching coughs and sneezes in tissues and throwing those used tissues away. Dr Watson added: 'If you have symptoms such as a high temperature, cough and feeling tired and achy, try to limit your contact with others, especially those who are vulnerable. 'There are many viruses in circulation at the moment, including flu – if you have symptoms of a respiratory illness and you need to go out, our advice continues to be that you should consider wearing a face mask.'
