Suspected case of HMPV detected in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha

A suspected case of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infection has been reported in Himatnagar city of Gujarat's Sabarkantha district, officials said on Wednesday.

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The blood sample of the patient - an eight-year-old boy, who is currently on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a private hospital - has been sent to a government hospital for confirmation, they said.

"The case is under screening. A sample has been sent to a government lab for confirmation, and the result is awaited," Sabarkantha district collector Ratankanvar Gadhavicharan said.

The boy tested positive at a private laboratory, but the health authorities have sent his sample to a government lab for confirmation, doctors at the private hospital said.

"The patient, who was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday morning, showed signs of severe pneumonia after which his blood sample was sent for examination to a private laboratory which confirmed that he was infected with HMPV," Dr Imtiaz Memon of Baby Care Hospital said.

After he tested positive, the district health authorities were informed and they sent another sample to a government hospital, he said.

The child is on a ventilator in the hospital's ICU, he added.

This comes two days after Gujarat reported its first confirmed case of HMPV infection in a two-month-old infant. The baby tested positive in a report from a private laboratory on December 26 but the case was reported late to the health department.