Viruses in the news. hMPV and the "quad-demic."

There are at least five viruses that are making headlines in January 2025. Why?

First, remember that the media aims to create headlines that cause fear, alarm, panic, anxiety, and stress. The media knows that bad news sells, even if the headline only creates marginal concern or anxiety.

It's also important to remember that new and unfamiliar things can be scary. Let's look at these viruses and see they are not new or scary.

LISTEN | Viruses in the News! |Dr. Brandan Lee

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The first virus is called hMPV, and it stands for Human Metapneumovirus.

Allegedly, there is an outbreak of hMPV in China. See the image of the headlines captured recently.

hMPV is not new. It's been around forever. You've likely already been exposed to this ubiquitous virus at some point in your life.

That's the first virus; now, the next four are being grouped together.

Have you heard about the "quad-demic" yet? The quad-demic refers to four different viral infections that all seem to be experiencing an uptick simultaneously here in the United States. This is nothing to be alarmed about.

Let's see why:

The first virus of the "quad-demic" is the flu virus. The flu! There's nothing new there. The flu happens every single year. It's not new. You've already been exposed to the flu dozens of times.

COVID-19 is the second virus in the quad-demic. Again, nothing to be alarmed about. We have dealt with COVID-19 for five years, and coronaviruses have been around forever. You and everyone you know have been sick with COVID-19 at least twice by now—no big deal.

The next virus is RSV. RSV stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus. It's basically the common cold. RSV has been around forever. I promise you, you've already had a cold from RSV at some point, so there's nothing to worry about there.

The fourth one is the Norovirus. Now, this virus is a little bit different from the other four. Every virus we've discussed so far is a respiratory virus, meaning that it affects your breathing system, i.e., lungs and airways.

The norovirus is not a respiratory virus. It's a stomach bug.

Like the other viruses, though, it's been around forever. The last time you had a stomach bug that caused vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, it was probably norovirus.

Now, let's acknowledge that getting sick is a miserable experience. No one enjoys getting sick, whether it's a respiratory infection or a stomach bug. But it's just part of life! Everyone will get sick from time to time. Even the healthiest person you know will get sick occasionally. The goal is to be healthy and have a strong immune system so that you will get sick as seldom as possible and recover faster when you do get sick.

Trying to avoid exposure to viruses so you don't get sick is futile. You can't avoid exposure to these five viruses or any other millions of viruses and their variants. Viruses like these are everywhere. They are ubiquitous! No amount of masking, quarantine, or isolation will prevent you from being exposed to viruses.

Your only logical and sustainable strategy is to focus on having a healthy body with a resilient immune system. Healthy people don't worry about being exposed to viruses because they know they have a lower chance of getting sick and that they'll recover faster if they do.

Vitamin D is crucial in protecting the body from viral infections; these five viruses we've discussed are no exception. We've seen ample evidence that Vitamin D plays an invaluable role in protecting ourselves from COVID-19 and the flu, and we've explored this in other articles on this website.

Let's see if there is any research about Vitamin D and the other three viruses we've learned about.

In 2017, an article published in the Journal of Pediatrics showed that 50% of children hospitalized with hMPV or RSV had low Vitamin D levels.

This 2011 article published in Pediatrics tested cord blood in newborns and found that babies with Vitamin D deficiency were more likely to get sick from RSV.

This 2018 article in Frontiers in Immunology explored the importance of the immune system's constituent cathelicidins in fighting hMPV and RSV. Vitamin D is crucial for the production of cathelicidins.

In 2018, an article published in Epidemiology and Infection looked at school-age children. They found that the lower their Vitamin D levels, the more likely they were to have gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea from viruses like Norovirus.

These four studies are just a few of the thousands of studies showing the importance of Vitamin D in immune function, especially for fighting viral infections and especially for fighting viral respiratory tract infections.

In summary, don't let headlines create any fear or anxiety in your life. Your body has an amazing immune system that can defend you from just about any germ when it's supported properly. Vitamin D is a key part of that immune system support that you need. There are viruses everywhere. Don't try in vain to avoid exposure to them. Instead, focus on building a strong and resilient immune system so that you can handle whatever comes along next.