The Week in Numbers (to the 22 March)

Is it time for another pandemic?

7.2%

In this week’s surveillance, parainfluenza positivity increased to 7.2%, with the highest positivity in under 5-year-olds at 13.2%.  

This is more on a virus that goes under the radar unless there’s one of the golden triads of a rapid test, a vaccine or an antiviral just around the corner.  

Human parainfluenza viruses—HPIVs for short—cause upper and lower respiratory illnesses, which can cause mild to serious symptoms. You can catch HPIVs many times, but it’s not just another common cold in children, particularly when they are infected for the first time.

Globally, in children under 5, HPIVs account for roughly 13% of acute lower respiratory infections, (ALRI) 4-14% of ALRI hospital admissions, and 4% of childhood ALRI mortality.

We’re putting parainfluenza on the candidate pandemic list as vaccines are under development, although they have proved ineffective to date. For signs of imminent market release, watch the UKHSA surveillance. If they start reporting HPIV separately, like th…