New Variant XBB1.16: Rise in India and US, Found in Netherlands, and What it Means for Covid-19 Monitoring and Post-Covid Care

The variant, also called arcturus, is on the rise especially in India and the US, but has also been found in the Netherlands.

Antibodies elicited by vaccinations protect less well against infection with XBB1.16, which means that this variant spreads quickly. That is reason for vigilance, but it has not led to additional measures for the time being.

According to RIVM spokesman Harald Wychgel, the new variant has not yet been found in sewage water in the Netherlands, but it has been found incidentally in patients in hospitals. “The question now is whether the variant will spread further. We will keep an eye on that,” says the spokesperson.

More new variants

Virologist Marion Koopmans tells RTL News that infectious variants are appearing more often. “We keep seeing successive variants, all of which are seen as sub-variants of omikron,” says Koopmans. “These variants follow each other in rapid succession. This is because immunity against infections does not last very long, because the viruses are constantly changing.”

Van alpha tot omicron XBB.1.5

Since the start of the corona outbreak in 2020, different variants of the virus have emerged. After, among others, the alpha, beta and gamma variant, omikron quickly became the most common from the end of 2021.

There are now many different types of the omikron variant, of which this new version is one. The government’s corona dashboard shows that more than 93 percent of the virus variants currently occurring in the Netherlands are variants of omikron. The most common variant at the moment is a version of the virus called omikron XBB.1.5.

The new variant fits that pattern. “This is another in the series of variants,” said Koopmans. “What we know is that this variant also escapes a little more from antibodies that people have due to vaccination, infection or a combination of the two. As a result, this variant has an advantage over others.”

The RIVM spokesman also speaks of ‘one of many variants’. The fact is that this variant is also closely monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO). In a report, the WHO wrote two weeks ago that XBB1.16 not an immediate threat is for public health, but can cause a peak in the number of infections.

Post-covid

There are as yet no indications that people are getting sicker than before due to the new variant. “With everything that is known so far, this does not seem to have any consequences for the severity of the complaints,” says Koopmans.

The virologist does express her concern about the possible increase in the number of patients with post-covid. “In view of post-covid, there is certainly cause for concern, that is where the greatest uncertainty is at the moment.”

With post-covid, also known as lung covid, patients continue to suffer from corona complaints for a long time. Exactly how post-covid arises is still unclear, as research is being done. Possible treatments are also being investigated.

No additional measures

The new virus variant is no reason to take extra measures. A British scientist suggested a few days ago that Britons should wear face masks again on public transport. RIVM sees no reason to do so.

“If you want to reduce the chance of an infection yourself, you can wear a face mask. But that advice does not apply population-wide. The virus is not going away,” Koopmans explains. “There are always new waves. They do lead to an increase in the number of infections, but that is not so dramatic. It remains important to monitor very carefully whether this changes, and to better prevent post-covid to investigate.”

Number of virus particles low

In general, the corona figures have not been cause for concern in recent times. “We see that the number of people with corona-like complaints is decreasing,” says the RIVM spokesperson.

The latest weekly figures from the RIVM show that the number of virus particles in sewage water has decreased during the last measurement compared to the week before. In the week leading up to April 23, 9 people with covid were admitted to the ICU, compared to 10 the week before.