A paramyxovirus associated with acute respiratory illness among infants and children.
May be associated with acute respiratory illness among older adults and persons with underlying chronic diseases such as asthma, COPD, and cancer.
Among children younger than five years of age, the annual rate of hospitalization from HMPV is one per 1000 children, and this is the same rates of hospitalization associated with influenza virus and parainfluenza virus types one, two, and three combined, but lower than the rate for RSVP, at 3 per 1000 (Edwards KM et al).
Responsible for about 20,000 hospitalizations a year among children less than five years of age.