Data Report
Other Viruses => Virus Outbreaks => Topic started by: Masked Man on March 02, 2026, 09:32:36 pm
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A virus that isn’t COVID or the flu is pummeling Northern California
Human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, typically spreads during winter and spring
By Ariana Bindman, News Features ReporterMarch 2, 2026
"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...”
"spreads through contaminated surfaces, the air and person-to-person contact..."
LINK:
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/hmpv-barking-cough-california-21951045.php
Note: I put this in veers outbreak category because article indicates it is "surging" and "pummeling" Northern California
Additional sources say:
Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is generally not dangerous for healthy individuals, causing mild, cold-like symptoms, but it can be dangerous for high-risk groups like young children, older adults (50+), and immunocompromised people, potentially leading to severe illness like pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma flare-ups, or hospitalization. While most people recover, it poses a greater risk to those with chronic heart/lung conditions or weakened immune systems, who might experience serious complications
COMMENT: Concerning All Age Groups & Why All Age Groups Should Be Concerned: sounds pretty dangerous to half the population if that includes children and people over fifty ..what's a child up to 12 years of age or is it 14? or are children still growing ? so this disease isn't dangerous for a person who is techniqually all grown up and not a child? Is that 21 year old? While a child is generally defined as any person
under the age of 18, according to international conventions and legal standardsIs, there might be some late bloomers its kind of subjective the brain doesn't stop growing til after 21 some studies indicate people are drinking alcohol before their brains stop growing...the brain doest stop growing specifically in areas related to decision-making and impulse control (prefrontal cortex), until the mid-20s (approx. age 25)...
...so is a 21 year old considered to be all grown up or is it more like 25 considering the prefrontal cortex stops growing around then? so does that mean this virus is safe for 25 year olds to fifty year olds so long as you are healthy and haven't had any covid etc? I just don't buy the idea its safe for people who aren't children or people over fifty.. doesn't sound safe or smart to catch any virus.Does science play a role in determining age or does the layperson do that? And does it even matter aren't virus's and certain vices simply inherently bad for all age groups whether we like it or not?
This whole what constitutes "safe" and putting an age bracket on it just doesn't convince me of the safety of it for society as a whole.. you gotta think about your family which is always going to be composed of different age brackets. They used to deem cigarettes safe if you were a certain age. If this virus is safe for you then is it safe for everybody else you know and everybody else in your family that consists of several age brackets? I personally think its just hogwash to say a virus is safe for certain age groups because society and families contain a whole lot of age groups that are continual evolving. How can ithis virus be safe for you and not your child and your dad a the same time? How can this virus be safe for you if your child and your dad is sick from it at the same time? see what I'm getting at?.. the world doesn't rotate around you or one age group. How are ya gonna be happy if the age groups around you are all suffering and sick?
There's a lot of children and there's a lot of people over fifty...if they get sick and its considered serious then that is threat to all age groups to have such a large portion of peoples sick in society. So if its not as dangerous for ages 21 to 50 then it actually is more dangerous because those are the active carriers of the illness and they are the spreaders. In some ways it more dangerous to have people who are adept and highly capable of spreading illnesses and diseases to other age groups. Its like that age group thinking its okay to get sick wreaks havoc on their own children and their own dads and grandads etc. That in turn wreaks havoc on healthcare which burdens the entire system..
...all I am proving is if you make a few different age groups sick you mess yourself and the whole system up.. you aren't going to make more money or become more happy by making your children and the people over fifty sick that's for sure. People who think they are safe to get sick because of their particular age is going to backfire every time. You never get ahead by making the rest of the gang sick.
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