Human Metapneumovirus Infection clinical trials

Clinical Features, Outcome and Prognosis of Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV) Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Adult Inpatients

The human metapneumovirus (hMPV) was first described in 2001. It belongs to the paramyxovirus family and is genetically close to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). hMPV has a seasonal epidemic pattern, between January to April. Clinical symptoms of hMPV infection include influenza-like illness (fever, asthenia and curvatures) associated with signs of respiratory tract infection. The incidence of hMPV infection is higher in children than in adults. In child pneumonia, hMPV is the third most frequent isolated pathogen (14 % of the subjects), after rhinovirus and RSV. In hospitalized adults, hMPV was detected in 6 to 8% of the subjects with lower respiratory tract and in 4 % of subjects with pneumonia. Clinical, radiological and biological features, as well as evolution course of hMPV infections have been mainly described in children. Clinical presentation of in adult seems polymorph, ranging from acute bronchitis or exacerbation of COPD to pneumonia. The frequency of viral-bacterial coinfection is unknown. Intensive care unit (ICU) admission may involve almost 1 for 10 patients. Elderly and immunocompromised subjects are probably high-risk subjects. Currently, treatment of hMPV infections is mainly symptomatic. However, several anti-RSV drugs that are currently in clinical development have demonstrated an activity against other paramyxoviridae in pre-clinical studies. Consequently, it seems necessary to better characterize hMPV infections in adult inpatients: presentation, course profile and risk factors for morbidity and mortality. These data would help clinicians to identify high risk patients, and consequently to choose those who could benefit from coming treatments. The French hMPV Study is observational prospective multicenter clinical study. The study population includes all consecutive adult inpatients with a community-acquired acute lower respiratory tract infection and a mPCR positive for hMPV on any respiratory sample. The primary objective is to describe the prognosis. The secondary objectives are i) to characterize clinical, radiological and biological features, ii) to describe the hospital course and the rate of ICU transfer; in ICU patients, to describe organ failures and supports, and iii) to describe the viral and/or bacterial coinfections. The primary endpoint is the number of subjects with a poor outcome (defined by the requirement for invasive mechanical ventilation and/or the death during the hospital stay).