METAPNEUMOVIRUS IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: Perspectives of a New Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is determined as the main cause of acute upper and lower respiratory tract infection that affects children up to five years of age and has the characteristic of attributing the most severe form of acute viral bronchiolitis in both infants and children under 2 years of age. Objective: to investigate the impact of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in children and adolescents, considering its epidemiology, clinical manifestations and potential to cause significant outbreaks, as well as to analyze the similarities with other respiratory pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, and to discuss the risk of a new pandemic associated with HMPV, based on recent advances in the diagnosis, prevention and management of the disease. Methodology: This study was conducted using the integrative literature review method, with a qualitative approach, and was carried out in recognized electronic databases, such as PubMed, Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS) and Medline, using the descriptors delimited by the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) such as "human metapneumovirus", "children", "adolescents" and "respiratory syncytial virus" and their equivalents in Portuguese and Spanish, using Boolean operators "AND" and "OR" to combine the terms. Results and Discussions: In view of the research developed, a total of 2,906 articles were found using the health descriptors (DeCS) "metapneumovirus", "children", "adolescents" and "respiratory syncytial virus" concomitantly with the Boolean operator "and" and "or" as delimiter and filter, with a total of 10 articles selected. Thus, it was clear that metapneumovirus, despite being part of the respiratory syncytial virus family, is still an unknown topic, considering the lack of vaccines or retrovirals for prophylaxis, leaving preventive health measures to be taken compared to the Covid-19 period, which adopted social distancing as a measure to mitigate the increase in cases, thus requiring further studies associated with the area and implementation of health actions that minimize the impacts on the lives of Brazilians. Final considerations: Although HMPV has not been associated with global pandemics, such as SARS-CoV-2 or H1N1, its pandemic potential cannot be underestimated. Respiratory infections caused by viruses such as HMPV can spread rapidly, especially in densely populated environments such as schools and hospitals.