COVID-19: ‘Arcturus' Now Labeled A 'Variant Of Interest'; Here Are Symptoms

Arcturus, officially known as XBB.1.16, accounts for 14.6 percent of cases in the US, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) variant tracker.

The World Health Organization has reported that XBB.1.16, which was first detected in New York in January, has now been discovered in 33 countries and 31 states in the United States.

New York, New Jersey, and California have reported the largest amount of Arcturus cases in the USA.

The most commonly reported symptoms associated with XBB.1.16 are:

• High fever,
• Cough,
• “Itchy” conjunctivitis or pinkeye.

The Mayo Clinic's report on Arcturus reveals that symptoms such as "itchy, red eyes" were not observed in previous waves.

At a recent news briefing, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's COVID-19 technical lead, expressed that the new variant, Arcturus, is causing a significant increase in cases in India, and she advised keeping an eye on the situation.

In laboratory studies, it has been observed that the spike protein has gained an extra mutation, leading to higher infectivity and possibly greater pathogenicity.

Van Kerkhove expressed that a major unknown moving forward is the virus, as it has not established a consistent trend and is still developing.

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