The expert said that Arcturus is preparing a coronavirus: a pink eye with sticky eyelids

New strain spotted in Russia

A new strain of coronavirus with the romantic name “Arcturus” (aka “Arcturus”), which made a splash in India and is rapidly spreading across the globe, has also reached Russia. Rospotrebnadzor reported that the first cases of the disease were recorded in the country. The experience of other countries has already shown that it affects children more readily. And its main target in the human body is the eyes.

For the first time, the Arcturus strain (Arcturus is the name of the star in the constellation Bootes, the fourth brightest in the sky) became known in January 2023, when it began to spread in India. At the same time, WHO added it to the list of concern and requiring monitoring. It has a higher contagiousness (infectiousness) in comparison with Omicron, but so far there is nothing to indicate that its course is more difficult.

“If you have forgotten the names of the latest versions of Omicron (Kraken, Griffin and others), here is a new candidate for the championship in the evolutionary race among more than 874 Omicron sublines: XBB.1.16 or Arcturus,” says the doctor of laboratory diagnostics Alexander Solovyov. – It spreads around the world, seen in India, Brunei, USA, Singapore, Canada. India recorded a sharp increase. Preliminary growth advantage – +166%. The existing mutations in this variant cause concern among scientists due to the possible increase in pathogenicity (symptoms of the disease). In India, most of the XBB.1.6 variants are now detected in Maharashtra – from the same region, the Delta variant has previously spread to the whole world. In addition to this variant, scientists are watching another rapidly growing variant of Omicron in several countries in Africa. This XBB recombinant variant also has a nasty mutation that could increase the pathogenicity of the virus.”

Indian doctors report an increase in the incidence of COVID-19 among children against the backdrop of the spread of a new variant of HBV.1.16. At the same time, there are differences in the clinical picture in children compared with cases of COVID-19 in previous waves. In addition to an acute onset with fever and cough, the disease is manifested by conjunctivitis. “This is how a new symptom is described by Indian pediatricians: itchy conjunctivitis or “pink eye”, without pus, but with “sticky eyelids,” says Alexander Solovyov.

According to Dmitry Prus, a well-known geneticist from the USA, in New York, the share of the new Arcturus strain after its appearance doubled every week and reached 5% by the end of March, while Kraken slowly retreated after 3 months of total domination. “Over the period of the Kraken domination, the hospitalization rate has steadily declined, indicating that the absolute number of cases has also been declining. But New York’s long-running downward trend in hospitalizations has just ended, and the numbers are starting to pick up, suggesting the new Arcturus is growing not just in relative terms, but in absolute terms. It looks like the Arcturus is successfully overcoming the immunity caused by the Kraken and could trigger another wave, something we haven’t seen in months. But I do not expect that there will be many severe cases in the next wave,” says Dmitry Prus.

The scientist says eye symptoms are being reported from India, as well as more hospitalizations and more pediatric cases: “But I suspect this is largely due to the growing error of ascertainment, and not to a change in the biology of the virus. At this stage of “pandemic fatigue”, only unusual cases still attract attention. Hospitalization statistics in the US now do not show such trends. The status of the majority strain “Arcturus” is still far away. New York is a week or two away from XBB.1.16 dominance. So by the end of the month I will be more confident.”

Now, the XBB.1.16 Arcturus strain is reported to have been reported for the first time in Russia, in Moscow, according to a new upload of genomic data from the Gamaleya Institute. “is unlikely to break out into a leading role,” Dmitry Prus believes, “However, in the new upload of genomic data from Moscow, there are additional examples of the “Moscow strain” XBB.2, which has not yet received its own name, with the F486P key mutation added. A few days ago, this “Moscow strain” has already spread to Israel, Germany and Singapore.In recent days it has also been found in Austria in the resort of Tyrol, and twice in Thailand (with one of the patients specifically marked as a foreigner).As of today, we do not expect any either of these strains will cause a serious wave of morbidity, although there is no complete certainty about Arcturus ”

Since the disease is mild in most cases, Rospotrebnadzor sees no need to introduce anti-epidemic restrictions.