SF Gate Human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, typically spreads during winter and spring. If you notice that your office is emptying out, chances are it’s because a respiratory virus that few people have actually heard of is circulating throughout Northern California. According to recent WastewaterSCAN data, concentrations of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, are high in San Francisco, Marin, Vallejo, Napa, Novato, Santa Rosa, Sacramento and Davis. The respiratory illness, which typically lasts from winter through spring, causes familiar symptoms like cough, fever and congestion, and spreads through contaminated surfaces, the air and person-to-person contact. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the virus leads to mild illness in healthy children, but can also cause less-common symptoms like bronchiolitis — an infection of the airways — and croup, described as a “barking” cough. The distinct cough, which the Mayo Clinic describes as similar to a seal barking, is most common among small children. Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco, said that because COVID-19 was “quieter” this season, “other viruses like influenza and HMPV are getting their chance.”
These illnesses “compete with each other,” she explained to SFGATE on Monday. “When we had big COVID surges, we saw really low rates of other common cold viruses.”