A new Covid-19 variant named Arcturus is spreading rapidly across the world, with cases found in the UK as well as 28 other countries. Rising cases in India have led to face mask rules returning for citizens. Worried health officials are now warning the strain has a new symptom not previously seen.
According to a report by the Mirror, Arcturus is a subvariant of Omicron which appears to be more transmissible. While there has been a surge in cases in India, levels have so far remained low in other countries, including the UK. However, health officials are keeping a close eye on it.
Reports from India state the new variant comes with a new symptom. The symptom has not been seen before with a coronavirus strain. Doctors in the country have said they are seeing more children and adolescents with the variant presenting with conjunctivitis - or pink eye
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Indian paediatrician Vipn M. Vashishtha, also a member of the WHO's Vaccine Safety Net programme, said at the start of April that he had seen paediatric Covid cases "once again after a gap" of six months. He said youngsters were presenting with a high fever, cold and cough, and "itchy conjunctivitis" with "sticky eyes".
However, Dr Michael Chang, a paediatric infections diseases expert at UTHealth Houston and Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, told Yagoo News there isn't enough evidence to prove the new Covid variant is causing conjunctivitis. He said: "We don't have the context of whether they're seeing that in some of the regions in India. We know their Covid cases are going up, and presumably, these kids are testing positive for Covid, but we don't know if they're testing positive for anything else either."
He continued by saying there are other viruses which can cause pink eye - including adenovirus which is common in spring and summer. Adding: "We are seeing adenovirus circulating, so even if Covid cases go up, unless you're doing testing for both Covid and adenovirus, which most people aren't... it may be difficult [to determine] what's causing your pink eye."
Arcturus, known as XBB.1.16, was mentioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in March as a "variant of monitoring" - a lesser threat than a "variant of interest". But, the status of the variant could be changed if there are signs of increase transmission or severity, or if it appears to be able to evade antibodies.
In February, the variant accounted for just 0.21 percent of all Covid cases worldwide. In March that figure rose to 3.96 percent, according to WHO figures. Arcturus is similar to the XBB.1.5 strain, which has dominated American infections since January. However, this new strain appears to have a mutation in the spike protein which has been associated with increased transmissibility and a potentially high degree of infection.
Some experts have said, though, that while it looks like it could spread more quickly and cause more cases, it doesn't necessarily appear to be causing more severe disease.
Officials have said hospitalisations in India have not surged significantly in line with the rate of infection. It's too soon to tell whether Covid vaccines will neutralise the new variant, or how effectively. According to the Mirror, some experts believe the jabs will remain effective at preventing severe illness and death, even if Arcturus is able to evade antibodies from vaccines. This is thought to be because there are other parts of the immune system which are activated with vaccination and infection, such as B cells and T cells - which can offer lasting protection against the virus.
Those who are older or have certain conditions which make them vulnerable are, as always, at the highest risk of complications. For these groups, it's important to remain up to date with any and all booster vaccinations.
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