Experts concerned about the new corona variant

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Corona is hardly an issue in this country. The lockdowns are in the past and hardly anyone wears a mask anymore. No wonder: the numbers are hardly worth mentioning. Not so in India. There, the infections are shooting up like a rocket. The reason for the enormous increase is the new Corona variant XBB.1.16., also known as Arcturus. This is a recombination of two Omicron subvariants.

Arcturus is especially common in the state of Maharashtra. The number of cases has increased tenfold in a month. While the spread of the variant was initially limited to major cities such as Mumbai and Thane, the virus is already rampant in other smaller districts. This is reported by the Indian Express.

Arcturus is on the rise. Experts are concerned about that. “All eyes should be on India! If XBB.1.16 aka Arcturus succeeds in breaking the ‘robust’ population immunity of the Indians who successfully withstood the onslaught of variants such as BA.2.75, BA.5, BQs, XBB.1.5, then the whole world should be very concerned to make. writes Vipin Vashishta, pediatrician and corona researcher, on Twitter.

After all, the courses are mild in most patients. Still, experts are alert for the following reasons:

Different mutations in the spike protein were found in XBB.1.16 compared to other variants. This makes it easier for the virus to trick the human immune system and infect more quickly. Ergo: more sick people in a short time.

Because XBB.1.16 is more contagious than other variants, it also spreads much faster. So far, there have been about 800 cases in 22 countries. Including the US, Germany, UK, Italy or Singapore. That doesn’t seem like much at first. But it shows that the variant can be found worldwide within a short time. According to researchers, XBB.1.16 has a growth advantage of about 140 percent compared to the previous version XBB.1.15, as reported by the “Deutsche Apotheker-Zeitung”.

The new variant is more contagious. But that’s not all: it can also apparently trick immunity. And so those who are vaccinated and re-infect Genesis more quickly. Corona researcher Vashishta writes on Twitter: “XBB.1.16 escapes the hybrid immunity that people have built up after strong vaccination and contact with the virus.”

Experts fear that the variant will cause huge numbers in the countries. However, the full extent can be difficult to determine. Compared to the start of the pandemic, there is hardly any testing. The official contamination figures are correspondingly low. (jmh)

Source: Blick