City care home monitors hMPV cases

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This article was published 02/11/2022 (783 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Another respiratory virus has joined COVID-19 and influenza on the list of seniors concerns as outside temperatures cool and months of winter loom.

There are now two cases of hMPV (human metapneumovirus) in one unit at Holy Family Home in Winnipeg.

In a letter this week, chief executive officer Tara-Lee Procter said both residents are in “respiratory outbreak” and their families have been contacted by telephone,

As well, two Holy Family units have declared COVID-19 outbreaks (with six residents testing positive in one unit and four in another). One resident who had earlier tested positive for the novel coronavirus and another with RSV (respiractory syncytial virus) were expected to have their illnesses declared resolved Nov. 3.

Procter said all other residents at the care home, at Main Street and Redwood Avenue, will be closely monitored for symptoms and only tested if symptomatic. Designated caregivers can continue to visit, wearing personal protective equipment.

HMPV was discovered about 20 years ago by researchers in the Netherlands. Most cases have cold symptoms, with more serious cases advancing to pneumonia in the lungs.

Those most at risk include immunocompromised people (including infants and seniors), those with cancer, and elderly people diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Julie Turenne-Maynard, executive director of the Manitoba Association of Residential and Community Care Homes for the Elderly, said while it isn’t a new virus for care homes, it is still serious.

“(It’s) just not as popular as some other viruses,” she said.

“HMPV is another respiratory virus that acts much like a flu, where you can experience cough, fever, nasal congestion, and shortness of breath. This infection can progress to bronchitis or pneumonia, much like other viruses that cause upper and lower respiratory infections.

“If it gets into the lungs and becomes a pneumonia, it can bring some unfortunate results.”

Epidemiologist Cynthia Carr said seniors with weaker immune systems are at risk, but most people diagnosed with hMPV are children under the age of five.

“Like any virus that can cause lower respiratory infections, it can then increase risk for progression to bronchitis or pneumonia,” she said.

Carr said studies have shown by the time people turn 25 they have been infected with hMPV. There is no vaccine.

She noted current national surveillance data show the country is experiencing higher than normal positive test rates of hMPV. However, at less than two per cent testing positive, they are still lower numbers than other viruses.

A provincial spokesman said the virus comes out during cold weather, like most other respiratory viruses, and outbreaks are rare.

“It has been around for a long time, as are many viruses that the average person is unlikely to have read about,” the spokesman said Thursday.

“Cadham (Provincial) Lab monitors the virus and reports any unusual activity to public health but, at this time, there is nothing unusual to report.”

A Winnipeg Regional Health Authority spokeswoman said it is a reminder the best protection is to practice good hand hygiene and cough etiquette, while other ways to avoid exposure or spread viruses are to wear a mask and stay home when sick.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 is still causing outbreaks at Manitoba personal care homes and hospital wards.

The latest report from the WRHA details 13 personal care homes, five hospitals, as well as two units at Riverview Health Centre and one at St. Amant, are currently battling COVID-19 outbreaks.

The WRHA also reports the GD4 ward in Health Sciences Centre has an outbreak of gastroenteritis; the St. Norbert and Charleswood PCHs have respiratory outbreaks; and Beacon Hill Lodge has a scabies outbreak.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca