Conjunctivitis Could Be A Symptom Of The New COVID-19 Variant XBB.1.16, aka Arcturus, Say Experts

With over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, India is well into another wave of the pandemic.

The 10,158 new infections reported on Wednesday are the highest in 230 days. A total of 10,256 cases were recorded on August 26 last year.

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XBB.1.16 aka Arcturus spreading globally

According to reports, a new strain, XBB.1.16 also known as Arcturus is likely behind the surge in new cases in India.

It was first found in January, when two samples tested positive for XBB.1.16, while in February, a total of 59 samples were found to be positive for it.

In March, Dr. Vipin Vashishtha, the former head of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Immunization had said that "If XBB.1.16 aka Arcturus could succeed to wade through the ¡®sturdy¡¯ population immunity of Indians that successfully resisted the onslaught of variants like BA.2.75, BA.5, BQs, XBB.1.5, then whole world must be seriously worried."

All eyes should be on India! If XBB.1.16 aka #Arcturus could succeed to wade through the ¡®sturdy¡¯ population immunity of Indians that successfully resisted the onslaught of variants like BA.2.75, BA.5, BQs, XBB.1.5, then whole world must be seriously worried!! pic.twitter.com/PZYuM7hD7Q

¡ª Vipin M. Vashishtha (@vipintukur) March 18, 2023

His prediction seems to be coming true as the new strain is rapidly spreading in India and has also been reported in many other countries.

XBB.1.16 aka Arcturus is said to be the most transmissible variant of the virus yet and has a 140% growth advantage over XBB.1.5.

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New possible symptoms of Arcturus

Another interesting observation made by Dr. Vashishtha is the possible new symptoms associated with XBB.1.16.

According to him, the symptoms of XBB.1.16 include itchy conjunctivitis - or pinkeye - without pus, but with sticky eyes.

Richard Reithinger, an infectious disease epidemiologist at RTI International told Fortune that is probably too early to tell if the virus' symptoms set has truly shifted.

WHO puts XBB.1.16 under monitoring

The World Health Organisation (WHO) put XBB.1.16 under its "variant under monitoring" list in late March. At a press briefing recently, WHO's technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove said, "This is one to watch." She added that health experts haven't seen "a change in severity in individuals or in populations".

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COVID moving towards endemic

Amid the surge in new cases in India, health ministry officials said that the virus is moving towards an endemic stage, which means that it will be consistently present but limited to a particular region, making it more predictable and manageable.

Officials have noted that while cases may continue to rise over the next 10-12 days, hospitalisations remain low. The virus becoming endemic is likely to generate a large number of variants.

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Dr. N.K Arora, co-chair of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), however, admitted that the biological behavior of the virus cannot be predicted and that continued surveillance of hospitalisations due to Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) is necessary.

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