According to comprehensive media reports, the new crown mutant virus strain XBB.1.16, also known as Arcturus, is the product of the recombination of the subvariant strains BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 of the CCP virus variant Omicron, which is highly similar to XBB.1.5.
Research by the University of Tokyo shows that the transmission rate of XBB.1.16 is 1.17 to 1.27 times that of XBB.1 and XBB.1.5. It is considered to be the most contagious variant of the new crown.
The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that on January 23, XBB.1.16 was first discovered in India, and then there were related cases in 29 countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Italy, Denmark, Austria, and Germany. Most of the cases occurred in India and Nepal. India reported more than 7,000 cases on the 12th, but reported 10,158 cases on the 13th and 11,109 cases on the 14th, showing that the number of infections continues to rise.
The Indian government has launched new policies in response to the epidemic, including resuming the production of CCP virus vaccines, and measures such as returning to the elderly, pregnant women, and people with potential diseases to wear masks in Kerala, the hardest-hit area.
On March 22, WHO listed XBB.1.16 as “Variant Under Monitoring”. This means that the variant has “genetic changes” that may affect its viral characteristics, including a possible “growth advantage” over other variants, but the epidemiological impact of which is unclear.
According to the WHO, there is an additional mutation in the spike protein of XBB.1.16, which is speculated to increase the infectivity and potential pathogenicity of the virus, but there is no direct evidence that XBB.1.16 has a higher rate of severe disease or mortality.
The “Washington Post” quoted Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia (University of East Anglia) on the 14th, saying that Arcturus may become the mainstream virus strain in the United States and Europe and most countries in the world for a period of time. But I don’t think it will be like the recent waves of the CCP virus epidemic that have resulted in serious infections.
Vipin Vashishtha, former chairman of the immunization committee of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics, said Arcturus can cause cough, cold, high fever and conjunctivitis (commonly known as pink eye) in children.
Conjunctivitis was uncommon in previous waves of the outbreak.
As for whether the existing vaccine is effective against the CCP virus variant Arcturus, experts said that the relevant cases and data obtained by the medical community are still insufficient, and it is still too early to say.
