A virus without a vaccine or treatment is hitting California. What you need to know

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A respiratory virus that doesn’t have a vaccine or a specific treatment regimen is spreading in some parts of California — but there’s no need to sound the alarm just yet, public health officials say.A majority of Northern California communities have seen high concentrations of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, detected in their wastewater, according to data from the WastewaterScan Dashboard, a public database that monitors sewage to track the presence of infectious diseases.

A Los Angeles Times data analysis found the communities of Merced in the San Joaquin Valley, and Novato and Sunnyvale in the San Francisco Bay Area have seen increases in HMPV levels in their wastewater between mid-December and the end of February.HMPV has also been detected in L.A.County, though at levels considered low to moderate at this point, data show.

While HMPV may not necessarily ring a bell, it isn’t a new virus.Its typical pattern of seasonal spread was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, and its resurgence could signal a return to a more typical pre-coronavirus respiratory disease landscape.

Here’s what you need to know.World & Nation Earlier this month, the federal government ‘abruptly terminated’ grants to the group, the lawsuit says.HMPV was first detected in 2001, according to the U.S.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.It’s transmitted by close contact with someone who is infected or by touching a contaminated surface, said Dr.

Neha Nanda, chief of infectious diseases and hospital epidemiologist for Keck Medicine of USC.Like other respiratory illnesses, such as influenza, HMPV spreads and is more durable in colder temperatures, infectious-disease experts say.Human metapneumovirus cases commonly start showing up in January before peaking in March or April and then tailing off in June, said Dr.Jessica August, chief of infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente Santa...