‘One to Watch’: The Arcturus variant driving up COVID cases in India with a symptom not seen before

After a lull in cases, India’s COVID-19 count is rising again — that too at an exponential rate. On Thursday, the country recorded a single-day rise of 10,158 cases, highest in nearly eight months. With this, the nation’s active caseload has risen to 44,998.

The spurt in cases has prompted some states in India to impose COVID protocols such as mask mandates and social distancing. Even India Inc is directing pandemic-appropriate behaviour at workplaces and outside in light of the growing infections.

Health experts blame this surge on a COVID variant known as Arcturus, a spin-off of the Omicron variant, and is thought to be the most contagious yet. What is even more worrying about this variant is that it’s causing symptoms in children that were not seen before.

Here’s what we know about Arcturus and just how deadly it is?

About Arcturus

Technically the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, the name Arcturus was made popular by Vipin M Vashishtha, former convenor of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics, who used it in a tweet on 17 March while warning about new COVID-19 cases.

Now, @RajlabN has also confirmed wide circulation of XBB.1.16 globally.

But the key question is how devastating would it prove in coming weeks or months! https://t.co/BhQM0fXx4H https://t.co/AMQAHeMvDi

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

Technically speaking, Arcturus is a recombinant of two descendants of a Omicron variant BA.2. It was first detected in India in March and has also found its way in other countries, but the largest outbreak by far is in India.

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Seeing as how it was responsible for the quick spread of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) in late March called it a “variant under monitoring”. Maria Van Kerkhove, the COVID technical lead for the WHO, had then said that XBB.1.16 variant is considered “one to watch” by the world health body.

A study by Japanese scientists has found that Arcturus is 1.2 times more infectious than the closely-related Kraken COVID strain. They had said that the new variant will “spread worldwide in the near future”. They also suggested that the mutations of the new variant could make it more difficult for the immune system to take on.

They, however, clarified that there was no evidence that Arcturus could evade protection from vaccines, meaning vaccines were still effective against it.

Arcturus may not just be causing a surge in COVID cases though. According to Dr Vashishtha, one of the symptoms he is seeing in those infected by Arcturus, especially in children, is “itchy” conjunctivitis — or pinkeye — without pus, but with “sticky eyes”.

He has observed that until now conjunctivitis hadn’t been seen in earlier COVID waves.

A recent Times of India stated that there’s been a rise in paediatric conjunctivitis. But, as experts say it’s too early to tell for sure if the virus’ symptoms have shifted.

Richard Reithinger, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the nonprofit research institute RTI International, told Fortune that he’s also heard such reports, but that it’s “probably too early to tell” if the virus’s symptom set has truly shifted.

Spread of Arcturus

While causing a surge in cases in India, Arcturus has also made its presence felt in other countries. Raj Rajnarayanan, assistant dean of research and associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology campus, told Fortune that “Arcturus and its descendants has the oomph to outcompete” other circulating COVID variants, “as of now.”

Arcturus is already in Britain — almost 50 cases have now been spotted. The variant has been detected in other countries as well, including the United States. Cases have been reported from California, Washington, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Texas.

It’s also been seen in Singapore and Australia. Virologist Professor Lawrence Young from the University of Warwick told The Independent that the rise of the new variant in India is a sign that “we’re not yet out of the woods.”

“We have to keep an eye on it,” Professor Young said. “When a new variant arises you have to find out if it’s more infectious, more disease-causing, is it more pathogenic? And what’s going to happen in terms of immune protection.”

India’s COVID surge

The country has been seeing a drastic rise in daily COVID cases, prompting the health ministry on Monday and Tuesday to conduct mock drills to check preparedness of hospitals.

Several states has seen a rise in infections, with the national capital, Delhi, seeing its positivity rate climbing to 26 per cent on Wednesday. Health sources told news agency PTI that the cases are expected to rise for the next 10-12 days, and will gradually come down, noting that the disease was heading towards an endemic stage.

Some states like Kerala and Haryana have also brought back COVID-19 protocols owing to the rise in cases.

On Wednesday, Serum Institute of India’s CEO Adar Poonawalla said that the company had restarted manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccine Covishield. He said the company already has six million booster doses of the vaccine available and adults must take the booster shot.

Even while cases continue to climb, officials state that it’s not the time to panic and that protocols are in place and that the nation is far from seeing the next wave of infections.

With inputs from agencies

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