New COVID-19 variant Arcturus, driving up infection rate in India, symptoms of conjunctivitis and high fever on the rise
By Lokmat English Desk | Published: April 19, 2023 01:10 PM2023-04-19T13:10:48+5:302023-04-19T13:10:48+5:30
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India has logged high cases in the last 24 hours. A sharp increase in daily cases has been observed in the country over the past few weeks.
India's daily positivity rate remains at 8.40 per cent. The new Omicron subvariant, XBB.1.16 is driving the latest surge in cases in the country.
The World Health Organisation has kept this variant under monitoring. According to reports, this variant has been detected in 29 countries so far. It is also known as Arcturus.
Arcturus was first detected in January. It is an Omicron sub-variant which can spread easily. The World Health Organization has stated that the XB.1.16 variant is similar to XBB.1.5 variant but has an additional mutation. Therefore, it can spread quickly but may not lead to anything severe.
In India, Arcturus has replaced other variants, as per a WHO report. It is spreading quickly in the country but the rate of hospitalization remains low. The variant leads to mild symptoms and no severe complications have been noticed so far.
Some of the common symptoms observed so far include:FeverHeadacheSore throatRunny noseFatigueAbdominal issuesCough
Recently, a new symptom has been added to the list which is being reported in children specifically. Experts have highlighted that many patients have reposted itchy eyes, conjunctivitis and pink eye (without pus). These eye-related symptoms were not seen in the previous waves.
The latest omicron offshoot is particularly prevalent in India, where it has sparked a rise in infections, and a return to mask mandates in parts of the country.
A “variant under monitoring” is considered to be of lesser concern than a “variant of interest,” which is predicted or known to be more transmissible or virulent, or able to evade antibodies, according to the WHO. The XBB. 1.5 strain, currently the most prevalent subvariant globally, is described as a variant of interest.
“We’ve seen this in the past,” Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia in Britain, said in an interview. “You look at the virus and it’s got mutations that should make it more virulent, but then in reality you don’t see that.”
He explains that immunity in the body’s T cells represents “one of the biggest protections,” and yet “we’re not seeing much evolution in the parts of the virus that T cells actually attack,” meaning that the impact of the mutations may be limited. “There’s no evidence that this is any more severe — and probably it’s somewhat less severe than previous strains — but it’s too early to be certain. And that’s almost certainly because of immunity.”
“It will probably become the dominant variant for a while in the U.S. and Europe and most countries around the world, but I don’t see it driving up severe infections more than we’ve seen in recent waves,” he said.
In India, the number of active coronavirus cases has been steadily rising in recent weeks. The country was devastated by a wave of infections involving the delta variant in 2021, which killed tens of thousands of people. Cases have been rising again recently, leading some states to reintroduce mask mandates.
