Covid Arcturus has a 'new symptom' in eyes that may be confused for hay fever
Covid Arcturus has a new symptom that has rarely been seen in past strains of the virus, according to reports.
A new subvariant is on the rise in parts of the world, causing a sharp increase in cases.
XBB.1.16, known as Arcturus, is an Omicron subvariant that was first detected in January by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Since then, it has caused mask laws to be reintroduced in parts of India, and is on the rise in Australia now too.
But within India, there have been some reports claiming that the subvariant has a new symptom rarely seen in previous strains of coronavirus.
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Covid XBB.1.16 is of the XBB lineage, a mix of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 (stock image) (PA)Dr Neha Narula, of Stanford Medicine, told CBS: "When it comes to symptoms we are still seeing things like sore throat, cough, fever. But the new symptom people are talking about is the symptom of conjunctivitis, or as we know it more commonly - pink eye. It is happening in both children and adults.”
She added that it wasn't entirely new for Covid, as some of the original strains produced similar symptoms.
WHO officially listed red or irritated eyes as one of the "less common" Covid symptoms.
She added: "So if you haven't been protected with the vaccines or boosters, go ahead and get those.
In India, a number of patients suspected to have Arcturus are suffered from irritated and red eyes (stock image) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)“But if you are having some of these symptoms - watery eyes, red itchy eyes, or other cold symptoms - especially now with this new subvariant circulating, don't write it off as allergies, go ahead and take that Covid test and talk with your healthcare provider so they can give you further guidance in terms of treatment."
Indian paediatrician Vipn M. Vashishtha, also a member of the WHO's Vaccine Safety Net programme, echoed warnings of the new symptom.
He said youngsters were suffering with a high fever, cold and cough, and "itchy conjunctivitis" with "sticky eyes".
However, Dr Michael Chang, a paediatric infections diseases expert at UTHealth Houston and Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, told Yagoo News there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the new Covid variant itself is causing conjunctivitis.
"We don't have the context of whether they're seeing that in some of the regions in India," he said.
He added: "We know their Covid cases are going up, and presumably, these kids are testing positive for Covid, but we don't know if they're testing positive for anything else either."
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He explained there are other viruses which can cause pink eye - including adenovirus which is common in spring and summer.
Arcturus has caused some concern after it began forcing a spike in cases in India.
This led to some mask laws being reintroduced in parts of the country as the country’s health ministry launched mock drills in hospitals to test their preparedness.
In India's southern state of Kerela, Health Minister Veena George reintroduced masks for the elderly, pregnant women, and those with underlying conditions.
Meanwhile, five Brits were confirmed to have died with the virus so far.
As of earlier in April, there were at least 135 cases; a figure that has likely risen since.
It was present in all corners of the UK apart from the North East, with the highest concentration of cases present in London, the North West and South East.
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