Have MPPV patients Been identified in Sri Lanka?

The HMPV virus is being spread in China these days. Sri Lankan social media users are also interested in the issue, and posts about the disease and its spread can be found in the Sri Lankan social media space. However, some such posts are misleading. This is our investigation of such posts.

Social Media Posts

Social media posts being spread ,implicating that the first HMPV patients have been found in Sri Lanka.

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Some social media posts say Professor Neelika Malavige,head as well as the professor at the Department of Immunology and Molecular Sciences of the Sri Jayawardenepura University, Faculty of Medical Sciences stated that the first HMPV patients were found in Sri Lanka, so be cautious.

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We decided to do a fact-check on this.

Fact Check

We checked leading-stream media to see if there were any reports about recent HMPV-infected patients in Sri Lanka. But we could not find them.

Then, we checked on Professor Nileeka Malavige`s statement. We found a photo of a recent media briefing of her being used for viral social media posts. In a recent media briefing, she said there is unnecessary panic about HMPV in Sri Lankan social media, and she added that there is no need for unnecessary fear, stating this is not dangerous like the recent covid 19 pandemic. She said that the virus has been in the world for around two decades and that such viruses spread across the globe during the winter season. She noted that HMPV patients have been found in Sri Lanka for years, even in December 2023. She elaborated in the briefing that even genetic analysis of the HMPV patients was done in Sri Lanka.

However, Professor Malavige added that no HMPV patients have been found in Sri Lanka in the year 2025 so far.

Media briefing can be reached via the below link

Consultant doctor of Kandy Hospital Atheeka Akram said that there were HMPV patients in 2024 also in Kandy Hospital and that there is no need for unnecessary fear.She added that it`s a normal virus disease and there is no need for unnecessary panic.

When we contacted her, Professor Malavige stated that the first HMPV patient has not been found in Sri Lanka and added that HMPV patients have been reported in Sri Lanka for years.

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Conclusion:

Social media posts stating that the first HMPV patients have been found in Sri Lanka are false.Professor Neelika Malavige also stated that this is a normal virus spreading in the winter season and impacting the respiratory system.She added that there is no need for unnecessary fear.