Post-infection Symptomatology of Human Metapneumovirus Infection

Dorothy Kenny, MD; Samuel Martin, MD; David Quimby, MD

WMJ. 2025;124(2):135-137

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ABSTRACT

Introduction: Though there has been much discussion about post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, there has been limited study on symptoms following infection with other respiratory viruses.

Methods: In this retrospective chart review, we reviewed the medical records of 92 patients admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of human metapneumovirus for 17 of the common symptoms associated with post-acute sequalae of SARS-CoV-2 that were either new or worse than baseline in the time frame of 90 to 270 days after diagnosis.

Results: Of those patients hospitalized with human metapneumovirus, 55.4% had at least 1 new or worsening symptom more than 3 months after diagnosis. The most common symptoms noted were shortness of breath (29.3%) followed by fatigue and cough (17.3% each).

Conclusions: Our data suggest that other respiratory viruses – not just SARS-CoV-2 – may carry a significant burden of post-infection sequelae.

Author Affiliations: Creighton University School of Medicine, Phoenix, Arizona (Kenny); Internal Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska (Martin); Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska (Quimby).
Corresponding Author: David Quimby, MD, 7710 Mercy Road, Suite 3000, Omaha, NE 68124; phone 402.717.0759; email david.quimbymd@commonspirit.org; ORCID ID 0000-0003-3976-9522
Financial Disclosures: None declared.
Funding/Support: None declared.
Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank Uyen-Vy (Melanie) Nguyen for assistance with the literature search.
Data Availability Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

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