New variant | Does the "Arcturus" variant make children more susceptible to conjunctivitis? Dozens of variants have been found in China. What should we do?

Suddenly, I was flooded with news about the "new strain of the coronavirus causing conjunctivitis in children", and I even wanted to sell eye drops in bulk on WeChat Moments.

What’s going on? It’s actually caused by a non-peer-reviewed study from India.

【COVID-19 conjunctivitis】

Not long ago, a pediatrician from Mangla Hospital in India uploaded an article on the preprint website medRxiv, stating that an outpatient clinic of a hospital in New Delhi, India found that there were more young children than older children among the new coronavirus patients, and these children were infected with the Omicron XBB.1.16 variant of the new coronavirus.

In fact, XBB.1.16 and XBB.1.5 are close relatives. Image source: WHO

But why is conjunctivitis involved?

In this article, it was found that 42.8% of these children had itchy, non-purulent conjunctivitis, accompanied by mucous discharge and sticky eyelids. Fortunately, none of these children required hospitalization and all recovered with symptomatic treatment.

Children's eye secretions, source: purchased at your own expense

In this way, an unofficial information sent by an Indian doctor caused countless parents to worry about their children's eye health and even panic about the XBB.1.16 variant. But in fact, there is a very big problem with this article:

It's spring!

You know, the spring pollen in New Delhi is very strong. Even the Indian media "India Today" published a news article titled "Don't let Spring take your breath away" around this time in 2019.

New Delhi, Source: Purchase at your own expense

The news article mentioned that India's pollution problem has caused medical expenses, and mentioned that pollen will bring a "double blow" to people from March to May, and mentioned a sentence:

“Some people experience watery, itchy, puffy eyes, while others develop eczema” – case solved.

In fact, there was no control or blinding in this "study". It just observed that children infected with XBB.1.16 had eye symptoms and suspected that it was caused by virus mutation. It even mentioned at the end of the article that "the results of this study may help clinicians, pediatricians, public health experts and parents to detect the disease early and manage it appropriately."

In other words, it is not reliable that XBB.1.16 is more likely to cause conjunctivitis.

Don't be scared by exaggerated information, source: buy it at your own expense

Although we don't need to worry too much about children's eyes being damaged by XBB.1.16, we still need to understand an objective fact, that is, children infected with the new coronavirus have been accompanied by conjunctivitis in the past.

A 2020 study in Wuhan found that among more than 200 children hospitalized for COVID-19 infection, more than 22% reported eye problems, including conjunctivitis. However, conjunctivitis did not attract much attention compared with the high severity and mortality rate of the original strain at the time.

【XBB.1.16】

Putting aside conjunctivitis, many people are still wary of the XBB.1.16 variant, which they have never seen before, after seeing some self-media using scare marketing to tell them to buy this or that protective gear every day. But there is actually no need to be afraid.

XBB.1.16 was actually discovered as early as January. The nickname of this variant is not either Siren or Griffin like before, but "Arcturus".

It has similar genetic characteristics to XBB.1.5, which previously dominated the United States, but its share in the United States and even the world is rapidly increasing.

XBB.1.16 accounts for about 9.3%. Source: CDC

As for why it spreads so quickly, a study published on bioRxiv (doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.04.06.535883), which has not been peer-reviewed, pointed out that XBB.1.16 spreads 1.27 times and 1.17 times faster than its close relatives XBB.1 and XBB.1.5, respectively.

In addition, XBB.1.16 has a strong ability to escape new coronavirus antibodies, which means it can effectively resist immunity induced by vaccination.

In the context of ultra-fast transmission and ultra-strong escape, perhaps the only thing to be thankful for is that the WHO mentioned that no more serious symptoms were found after infection with XBB.1.16.

T cell epitopes targeting S protein are basically conserved

Source: doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.15.520569

In addition, although XBB.1.16 has a very strong ability to escape humoral immunity (antibodies) like other XBB variants, vaccination induces not only B cell immunity but also T cell immunity, and the latter has a good recognition ability for various variants including XBB variants. Therefore, vaccination can still effectively reduce the risk of serious conditions.

Faced with the situation of XBB.1.16 that has already appeared in China, in fact, just like overseas, the risk can be reduced through vaccination.

Overview of domestic novel coronavirus variants, source: GISAID

Therefore, for those who have been vaccinated earlier, especially the elderly or people with underlying diseases who have a higher risk of severe illness after infection, if they meet the conditions and wish to reduce the risk, they should still consider receiving the new coronavirus vaccine (or booster dose).

For specific selection methods, please refer to this annoying table:↓

Image source: Homemade

*Special thanks to Dr. Wang Jimian for his guidance

*Official requirements: Research results show that people who experience natural infection after basic immunization and people who have completed the established immunization program can produce better immune protection through multiple antigen stimulation. For such people, the effect of re-vaccination in a short period of time is limited, and there is no need to continue vaccination for the time being. In the future, it will be determined whether the relevant population needs to continue vaccination based on the virus mutation situation and the progress of vaccine research and development.

What is Arcturus?

The last star I want to introduce is "Arcturus". Since today is China's Space Day, we should also talk about space.

As mentioned above, previous XBB variants were named "Hellhound", "Griffin" and so on. The names suggest that they are very ferocious monsters, making people feel that this variant is very scary.

Arcturus is in the lower middle. Source: purchased at your own expense

This time, XBB.1.16 was named "Arcturus". This name may not be very familiar to people who do not pay attention to astrology, but it actually has a lot to say about it.

Arcturus, also known as α Boo/α Boötes, is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes and can be observed as an orange-red object with the naked eye.

The word "Arcturus" is derived from the Greek "Αρκτοῦρος", which means "bear keeper". This is because Zeus fell in love with a princess named Callisto, but when Zeus' wife Hera found out about this, Hera turned Callisto into a bear.

When Arcas, the son of Zeus and Callisto, grew up, he almost shot Callisto, who had turned into a bear, because he was unaware of the situation. At the critical moment, Thursday turned Arcas into a bear as well, and placed the two bears (Callisto and Arcas) in the sky to form the Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

Goddess Hera, Source: Purchase at your own expense

Arcturus is the star used by Zeus' wife Hera to guard the two constellations, and this star is the brightest star.

Interestingly, there is also a Greek non-governmental environmental protection organization called "Αρκτοῦρος" that specializes in the protection of wildlife.

Wildlife and plants, source: purchased at own expense

Although we cannot protect wild animals like Αρκτοῦρος, if we can do a good job of vaccination and reduce the possibility of spreading the disease to ourselves and others, then even if we cannot be the brightest star in the night sky...

You can also be the most handsome guy in the crowd!

May the world be free of epidemics

pill

Disclaimer: This article was created out of personal interest, only to help more ordinary people have a clearer understanding of vaccines. The content and views do not represent any organization, unit, or institution, and it has not accepted any form of sponsorship. All pictures are from public online platforms or depositphotos platforms that have paid for personal use rights. If the content is incorrect, please criticize yourself more (not).