A new COVID-19 variant, Omicron XBB. 1.16, also called Arcturus, was first discovered in January 2023.
One of the characteristics of Arcturus infection is conjunctivitis, otherwise known as pink eye. It is spreading rapidly in many countries, including the United States, the UK, Australia, Singapore, China, and India.
American virology expert Dr. Lin Xiaoxu discussed on the program “Health 1+1″ that emerging new COVID-19 variants were inevitable. He said although it would be hard to forecast the trend of a virus and pathogenicity, the public should be concerned but does not need to panic.
Origin and Spread of Arcturus
In November 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 variant B. 1.1.529 strain first appeared in South Africa, which the World Health Organization (WHO) later named Omicron. Omicron quickly spread worldwide.
Since then, the Omicron strain continued to mutate, transforming into Omicron BA. 2, BA. 5, BA. 2.75, BQ. 1.1, and XBB strain.
As of April 2023, the XBB.1.5 strain, a descendant of the Omicron XBB strain, has proliferated worldwide, and the new variant XBB. 1.16 (Arcturus) has been widespread in various countries.
Lin stated Arcturus was 36 times more contagious than B.1.1.
In laboratory studies, Arcturus had an additional mutation in the spike protein, which was more contagious.
Global Risks of Arcturus
On May 3, 2023, Lancet Infectious Diseases published a study conducted at the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Tokyo in Japan.
The study found that XBB.1.16 demonstrates a greater growth advantage in the human population than XBB.1 and XBB.1.5. However, similar to XBB.1 and XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16 exhibits significant immune evasion capabilities.
Japanese medical researchers also discovered that Arcturus had potent resistance to various new COVID-19 antibodies.
On April 20, the Central Epidemic Command Center of the National Health Command Center, Taiwan, held a news conference on the latest mutation.
Lo Yi-chun, a center spokesperson, said the analysis of global variants revealed that the mainstream virus strain was still the XBB strain, accounting for 77 percent of all COVID-19 variants.
Among these variants, XBB. 1.5 variants accounted for 47.9 percent. Arcturus rose from 1 to 4 percent, with an increasing trend in the United States.
The variant was still under observation as of May 21, 2023.
By Ellen Wan
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