By Lisa O'Mary
A new variant of COVID-19 that was recently identified on the World Health Organization's radar may cause previously undescribed symptoms in children, according to a new report.
While the variant, called "Arcturus", has not yet been added to the CDC's watch list, a pediatrician in India has detected children with "itching" or "sticky" eyes, as if they had conjunctivitis, according to The Times of India.
The new eye symptom adds to the
Symptoms already described as high fever and cough, Vipin Vashishtha, MD, said on Twitter, noting that pediatric cases of COVID have recovered there for the first time in 6 months.
The country has also seen a rise in another virus among children with similar symptoms, called adenovirus. COVID and adenovirus cannot be distinguished without testing, and many parents are reluctant to have their children tested because the swabs are uncomfortable, The Times of India reported. A doctor told the newspaper that out of every 10 children with COVID-like symptoms, two or three had tested positive on a home COVID test.
Health officials in India are conducting drills this week to test how prepared the country's hospitals are as India sees a surge in cases, the BBC reported.
Arcturus (formally, subvariant Omicron XBB.1.16) made headlines 2 weeks ago when I appeared on the WHO's radar after surfacing in India.
The Times of India reported that 234 new cases of XBB.1.16 were included in the country's latest 5,676 new infections, meaning the subvariant accounts for 4% of new COVID cases.
Sources:
BBC: "XBB.1.16: Hospitals in India on alert as Covid-19 cases rise."
World Health Organization: "WHO press conference on COVID-19 and other global health issues – 29 March 2023."
The Times of India: “Covid cases are on the rise among children under 12 in Delhi,” “234 cases of mutated variant of Covid XBB1.16.1 found in India: INSACOG.”