Discoveries on “Arcturus” – the new Corona variant to date.

It feels like the pandemic has been over for some time. There have been no measures in Germany for a long time, life has returned to normal. At 43.7 cases of infection per 100,000 inhabitants, the incidence is also far from worrying developments.

In the midst of this insouciance, news from India bursts, making people sit up and take notice. Accordingly, a new omicron subvariant is spreading there: XBB.1.16. It is nicknamed “Arcturus”, named after the brightest star in the northern sky. Within 14 days, this variant has now increased the number of infections in India by 281 percent – the number of deaths has also increased by 17 percent in the same period.

Indian expert concerned about development

Indian expert Vipin Vashishta, a pediatrician and researcher, tweeted this
Mangla Hospital and Research Center
in Bijnor, India, and a member of the WHO Vaccine Group. He also added a warning to his post: “All eyes should be on India! If XBB.1.16 aka #Arcturus could break the ‘robust’ population immunity of Indians who have successfully withstood the onslaught of variants like BA.2.75, BA.5, BQs, XBB.1.5 then the whole world must seriously worried!”

Arcturus cases have already been found worldwide – also in Germany

Not exactly something to like to hear after more than two years of the pandemic. Because it would not be the first time that a new variant from India quickly spread worldwide and caused trouble. In fact, Arcturus has already been detected in many countries around the world. Cases have already been registered most frequently in the USA, but also in Brunei, Singapore, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Great Britain, Italy, Denmark and Austria. As the German Apotheker-Zeitung ”
DAZ.online
“ reported, many infections could be traced back to travelers to India.

The new variant has already arrived here in Germany: one case each in Baden-Württemberg and one case in Bavaria have been registered so far.

Arcturus putative recombination of two omicron variants

The new variant is believed to be a recombination of two omicron subvariants, the newspaper continues. XBB is derived from the variants BA.2.10 and BA.2.75 and has already evolved many times over. XBB.1 and XBB.1.5 were already rampant around the world. The latter has been the dominant variant in the USA since December. According to the WHO, the XBB family is on the rise worldwide and has replaced the previously dominant variants BA.5 and BA.2 almost everywhere.

This is also the case in Germany. Loud
current weekly report
of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the total proportion of the recombinant omicron variant XBB.1 including all sublines in Germany is already 56 percent. BA.5, on the other hand, is only 24 percent, BA.2 at 16 percent.

New worrying mutations in the spike protein

The new Arctururs variant has worrying properties, reports “DAZ.online”. This is because it has other mutations in the spike protein that, among other things, have the potential to suppress the release of interferon and thus undermine the immune system of those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered. Entry into the cells could also be even faster. This would make the variant even more contagious than its predecessors.

The new XBB variant would have a growth advantage of 140 percent compared to the XBB1.5 variant, which was previously considered the fastest-spreading variant, the paper continues. Accordingly, there is certainly reason for vigilance.

Epidemiologist Timo Ulrichs on the situation in Germany

So are we also looking forward to a new wave of infections in Germany? Epidemiologist Timo Ulrichs from Berlin explains in an interview with FOCUS online that new variants keep appearing. “Omicron subvariants take turns in controlling the infection process.”

However, the decisive question is another: “Does the antigen structure of the variant look so different that the immunity learned through vaccination and the previous infection no longer helps to inhibit the spread and to keep severe clinical courses of Covid 19 to a minimum?” reliable data from India such as hospitalization rates, ICU occupancy and deaths are not yet available.

However, Ulrichs cannot give the all-clear. “It would be quite conceivable that such a new sub-variant could force us to extend the pandemic again,” he warns. However, the time of year plays into our hands here: “We are just entering spring in Europe, so that a large-scale spread would be more difficult than at the beginning of the autumn/winter season.”

Prophylactic vaccination with omicron-specific vaccines makes sense for risk groups

Nevertheless, as a precaution, Ulrichs recommends risk groups to be vaccinated with the new omicron-specific vaccines. “That would be recommended as a prophylactic for all risk groups, if they haven’t already done so,” he emphasizes.

Even if the pandemic could flare up again due to Arcturus, Ulrichs is calm about it. “Should the pandemic start again, we would be in a better position thanks to the basic immunization of the population that we have already achieved than in the early phase of the pandemic,” he says. Even if further crises meant that combating them might become more difficult and costly than before.

No need to panic – most cases are not serious

Since, despite the increase, the absolute number of cases in India is still relatively low and no increase in hospitalizations has been recorded, panic would be completely out of place. The Indian corona expert Randeep Guleria, former head of the local corona task force, sees it that way. He currently sees no reason for concern, since most cases are not serious and the infections can also be contained with appropriate behavior.