{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,18]],"date-time":"2026-03-18T22:23:06Z","timestamp":1773872586511,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,31]],"date-time":"2025-07-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1753920000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Science Committee of RA","award":["24ESUq-IMB-0084"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24ESUq-IMB-0084"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a respiratory pathogen that causes illness ranging from mild upper respiratory tract infections to severe pneumonia, particularly in individuals with comorbidities. Fatal cases of hMPV-induced hemorrhagic pneumonia are rare and likely under-reported. Diagnosis is often delayed due to overlapping symptoms with other respiratory viruses and the rapid progression of the disease. Case presentation: We report the case of a 55-year-old man with a complex medical history, including liver cirrhosis and diabetes mellitus, who developed acute viral pneumonia. Initial symptoms appeared three days before a sudden clinical deterioration marked by shortness of breath, hemoptysis, and respiratory failure. A nasopharyngeal swab taken on the third day of illness tested positive for hMPV by qRT-PCR. The patient died the following day. Postmortem molecular testing confirmed hMPV in lung tissue and alveolar contents. Autopsy revealed bilateral hemorrhagic pneumonia with regional lymphadenopathy. Histopathological examination showed alveolar hemorrhage, multinucleated cells, neutrophilic infiltration, activated autophagy in macrophages, and numerous cytoplasmic eosinophilic viral inclusions. Conclusions: This is the first documented case of fatal hMPV pneumonia in Armenia. It highlights the potential severity of hMPV in adults with chronic health conditions and emphasizes the need for timely molecular diagnostics. Postmortem identification of characteristic viral inclusions may serve as a cost-effective histopathological marker of hMPV-associated lung pathology.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms13081790","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]],"date-time":"2025-08-01T06:37:47Z","timestamp":1754030267000},"page":"1790","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Fatal Case of Viral Pneumonia Associated with Metapneumovirus Infection in a Patient with a Burdened Medical History"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0760-1955","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Parandzem","family":"Khachatryan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, Yerevan State Medical University After Mkhitar Heratsi, Yerevan 0025, Armenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Naira","family":"Karalyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Pathology, Yerevan State Medical University After Mkhitar Heratsi, Yerevan 0025, Armenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hasmik","family":"Petunts","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Pathology, Yerevan State Medical University After Mkhitar Heratsi, Yerevan 0025, Armenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sona","family":"Hakobyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Cell Biology and Virology, Institute of Molecular Biology of NAS RA, Yerevan 0014, Armenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hranush","family":"Avagyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Cell Biology and Virology, Institute of Molecular Biology of NAS RA, Yerevan 0014, Armenia"},{"name":"Experimental Laboratory, Yerevan State Medical University After Mkhitar Heratsi, Yerevan 0025, Armenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zarine","family":"Ter-Pogossyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cNairi\u201d Medical Center, 21 Paronyan Str., Yerevan 0015, Armenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0861-2207","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zaven","family":"Karalyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Cell Biology and Virology, Institute of Molecular Biology of NAS RA, Yerevan 0014, Armenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"719","article-title":"A newly discovered human pneumovirus isolated from young children with respiratory tract disease","volume":"6","author":"Groen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat. 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