Preventing Cross-border Transmission of HMPV from Becoming Public Health Concern in Singapore

Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Health (a) how many cases of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) have been detected to date; (b) which are the age groups most severely affected by HMPV; (c) whether there are any fatalities due to HMPV; and (d) what measures have been implemented to reduce the number of infections in Singapore.

Mr Speaker, my response will also cover the matters raised in Question No 40 by Ms Joan Pereira on human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in today's Order Paper.

Sir, HMPV is a respiratory virus that has been prevalent globally, including in Asia, for many years. The symptoms are similar to a common cold. Patients typically recover quite uneventfully. HMPV surges are common during the colder months in temperate regions. There have been significant surges in some parts of Asia this winter.

In Singapore, based on our ongoing surveillance for acute respiratory diseases, we also have observed an increase in HMPV activity during the year-end period, similar to previous years. This has started to subside. There are currently no vaccines for HMPV and the influenza vaccine does not provide protection against HMPV infection.

Similar to other respiratory infections, the advice to the public and especially medically vulnerable persons, such as young children, the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions, is to take preventive measures, such as the practice of good personal hygiene, limiting social contacts when sick and seeing a doctor promptly if symptoms worsen.

Speaker, I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. When I raised this Parliamentary Question after reading about the HMPV cases rising in China in early January, I would never have expected that my own mom will be hospitalised due to HMPV for three days just before our Chinese New Year reunion dinner. I am grateful that her symptoms were picked up by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist for a consultation that is actually unrelated to flu. The good news is that she made it out from the hospital to join us for the reunion dinner.

Sir, I have two supplementary questions on this. One is that I used to receive from the Ministry of Health (MOH), SMSes to citizens, like myself, a reminder to enrol on the Healthier SG, a reminder to get the vaccine booster for COVID-19 when cases rose. And the last SMS that I received would have been around May. I wonder if MOH can consider sending similar SMS when there is a new flu variant or a flu that is increasing in cases overseas, so that citizens can be more aware of what are the protections that need to be done?

My second supplementary question is that, under Healthier SG, the general practitioner shared with me that MOH's fully subsidised annual flu vaccine are only given to the higher-risk groups under five and above 65, with respiratory-related chronic diseases. Those who are 40 to 65, for example, with high cholesterol, will not get a free flu vaccine.

So, just a couple of days ago, it was reported in the news that a high-profile, 48-year-old Taiwanese celebrity died unexpectedly from a flu complication when holidaying in Japan. So, I wonder if MOH can review the age criteria for the free annual flu vaccine and also include respiratory chronic diseases that is in remission, such as those who are on Healthier SG and did not report about a chronic disease that is in remission, like childhood asthma.

Sir, I thank Ms Ng Ling Ling for the suggestions. For the second question, indeed, we do regularly review the criteria for national vaccination programmes and for programmes under Healthier SG that are subsidised. In general, the approach that we take is that we do want to focus on those interventions which have some evidence that they are going to have a significant effect on the health outcomes downstream. Something like a flu vaccine is something that you need to do on a regular basis. It is not something that you do once and then you are done for life. It has to be topped up every year.

And so, the considerations are different compared to, for example, a vaccination like measles, mumps and rubella, where, maybe, you do it once in your lifetime and then it has a long effect across your life. The short answer to her question, we will always be reviewing the criteria that we use for these types of programmes.

She also had a suggestion about alerts for flu variants. In general, when we are considering what are the things to put an SMS alert or some kind of alert out to the population, it is where there is a specific action that they need to take, such as going and getting a vaccination for the new season's variants of influenza, where there is a vaccine.

For respiratory diseases where there is no vaccine, whether it is a variant or different variant or whatever the species of virus is, the advice is the same. It is the same throughout the year, which is: to practise good personal hygiene; do not go and mix with people when you are sick; and if symptoms worsen, seek medical care. So, we do have to be judicious about when we send out alerts, so that there is something specific in terms of the action that the citizens can take, rather than just providing information.