{"id":3176,"date":"2023-04-11T12:11:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T17:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/?p=3176"},"modified":"2023-04-24T06:32:47","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T11:32:47","slug":"arcturus-a-highly-transmissible-covid-variant-eyed-by-the-who-appears-to-have-a-new-symptom-heres-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/2023\/04\/11\/arcturus-a-highly-transmissible-covid-variant-eyed-by-the-who-appears-to-have-a-new-symptom-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Arcturus,\u2019 a highly transmissible COVID variant eyed by the WHO, appears to have a new symptom. Here\u2019s what you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/well\/2023\/04\/10\/covid-omicron-xbb116-arcturus-new-symptom-children-eyes-conjunctivitis\/\">Fortune<\/a> A new COVID variant the World Health Organization has its eye on seems to be causing a new symptom in children rarely caused by other Omicron spawn. XBB.1.16, dubbed \u201cArcturus\u201d by variant trackers, is fueling a new surge of cases in&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/company\/indian-oil\/\" target=\"_blank\">India<\/a>, at a time when reported cases are down in much of the rest of the world. The country\u2019s health ministry is holding mock drills to ensure that hospitals are prepared for rising COVID cases, the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-india-65229417\" target=\"_blank\">BBC reported Monday<\/a>, noting that some states have again made mask-wearing in public mandatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.04.18-1024x705.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3178\" width=\"840\" height=\"578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.04.18-1024x705.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.04.18-300x207.png 300w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.04.18-768x529.png 768w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.04.18.png 1284w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Levels of the variant are also rising in the U.S., Singapore, and Australia, among others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"807\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.08.18-807x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.08.18-807x1024.png 807w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.08.18-236x300.png 236w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.08.18-768x975.png 768w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.08.18.png 1144w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 807px) 100vw, 807px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But XBB.1.16 may not be just another run-of-the-mill Omicron. Dr. Vipin Vashishtha\u2014a pediatrician in India and former head of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Immunization\u2014tweeted Thursday that pediatric cases of COVID are on the increase for the first time in six months, and that \u201can infantile phenotype seems emerging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The symptoms he\u2019s now seeing among children:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>High fever<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cough<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cItchy\u201d conjunctivitis\u2014or pink eye\u2014without pus, but with \u201csticky eyes\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The latter symptom hasn\u2019t been seen in earlier COVID waves, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COVID cases in kids under 12 in India are increasing,&nbsp;<em>The Times of India&nbsp;<\/em>reported Monday. While they\u2019re generally mild, doctors are warning \u201cparents of children with obesity, asthma, and [those] suffering from other immunocompromised conditions not to ignore the symptoms,\u201d and to seek care if necessary, the publication noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Experts told&nbsp;<em>The Times&nbsp;<\/em>they were also seeing a rise in hospitalizations of children due to adenovirus, which has symptoms similar to COVID and can also result in conjunctivitis. Adenovirus and COVID are impossible to distinguish from each other without testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are \u201clots of anecdotals of pediatric conjunctivitis in India\u201d right now, Raj Rajnarayanan, assistant dean of research and associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Ark., and a top COVID variant tracker, tells&nbsp;<em>Fortune.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Richard Reithinger, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the nonprofit research institute RTI International, tells&nbsp;<em>Fortune&nbsp;<\/em>that he\u2019s also heard such reports, but that it\u2019s \u201cprobably too early to tell\u201d if the virus\u2019s symptom set has truly shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Conjunctivitis has previously been reported as a COVID symptom, he notes, though not often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers at Nebraska Medicine\u2019s Truhlsen Eye Institute previously identified the virus in the eye\u2019s tear film, a thin layer of fluid that covers the eye\u2019s outer surface. The presence of the virus there could lead to conjunctivitis, the institute&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nebraskamed.com\/eye-care\/can-covid-affect-your-eyes-eye-symptoms-and-when-to-see-a-doctor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted in a November blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Truhlsen Eye Institute, symptoms of conjunctivitis include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tearing, or watery eyes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Redness<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Swelling<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pain or irritation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Itching<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Discharge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">XBB.1.16 has \u2018the oomph to outcompete\u2019 other variants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Rajnarayanan expects to see XBB.1.16 and another new Omicron spawn, XBB.1.9, gain steam over the next few weeks, \u201cif nothing else emerges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>XBB.1.16 and its descendents have \u201cthe oomph to outcompete\u201d other circulating COVID variants\u2014\u201cas of now,\u201d he says, noting that new variants evolve quickly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The XBB.1.16 family of variants \u201care the next big group\u201d after Kraken variants, he notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to the pandemic, the world is currently in the \u201cage of recombinants\u201d\u2014or existing variants that have combined with each other to potentially wreak more havoc\u2014Ryan Gregory, a biology professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, tells&nbsp;<em>Fortune.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>XBB.1.16 is a recombinant of two descendants of so-called \u201cstealth Omicron\u201d BA.2. A&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biorxiv.org\/content\/10.1101\/2023.04.06.535883v3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">preprint study<\/a>&nbsp;updated Sunday from scientists at the University of Tokyo suggests that it spreads about 1.17 to 1.27 times more efficiently than relatives XBB.1 and XBB.1.5,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/well\/2023\/01\/05\/kraken-covid-variant-xbb-1-5-most-transmissible-omicron-can-bypass-immunity-escape-strain\/\">also known as \u201cKraken,\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;which currently dominates U.S. cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>XBB.1.16\u2019s increased ability to outpace other variants suggest that it \u201cwill spread worldwide in the near future,\u201d researchers wrote, adding that the variant is \u201crobustly resistant\u201d to antibodies from a variety of COVID variants, including \u201cstealth Omicron\u201d BA.2 and BA.5, which surged globally last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That means it could cause cases to rise again, even in areas that have recently seen increased COVID infections\u2014especially if those infections stemmed from either BA.2, BA.5, or their descendants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New variants may not always cause \u201cwaves\u201d of cases anymore. That\u2019s because a continual parade of new Omicron variants creates a baseline of infections that remains \u201cunsustainably high,\u201d Gregory says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">XBB.1.16 the most transmissible yet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The WHO declared XBB.1.16 a \u201cvariant under monitoring\u201d in late March. It\u2019s the most transmissible variant yet, Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead for the WHO,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/well\/2023\/03\/31\/arcturus-covid-variant-watch-who-world-health-organization-xbb116-omicron-wave\/\">said at a March 31 press conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional mutations in the virus\u2019s spike protein, which attaches to and infects human cells, create the potential for it to infect more easily and even cause more severe disease. For this reason, and due to rising cases in the East, XBB.1.16 is considered \u201cone to watch,\u201d Van Kerkhove said at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COVID hospitalizations and deaths have so far not risen in India, though both are referred to as \u201clagging indicators\u201d\u2014meaning that such developments, if they occur, usually happen several weeks after a rise in cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"710\" src=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.07.16-1024x710.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.07.16-1024x710.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.07.16-300x208.png 300w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.07.16-768x532.png 768w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.07.16.png 1284w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The variant still hasn\u2019t been broken out in the U.S. by the CDC. On Friday, XBB.1.16 cases were still reported under XBB, which comprised just under 2% of U.S. cases. Cases must comprise at least 1% nationally before they\u2019re reported in their own category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But XBB.1.16 is clearly in the process of infiltrating the U.S. Nearly half of such sequences identified in the U.S. were identified via airport surveillance, Rajnarayanan notes, citing data from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/gisaid.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GISAID<\/a>, an international research database that tracks changes in COVID and the flu virus.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fortune A new COVID variant the World Health Organization has its eye on seems to be causing a new symptom in children rarely caused by other Omicron spawn. XBB.1.16, dubbed \u201cArcturus\u201d by variant trackers, is fueling a new surge of cases in&nbsp;India, at a time when reported cases are down in much of the rest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":3177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"#COVID XBB.1.16 #Arcturus brings new symptoms showing up in children. Currently surging in #India","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-covid"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-11-at-13.02.56.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3176"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3338,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3176\/revisions\/3338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/healthsecurity\/transmission\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}