New variants
Does the Arcturus variant make children more susceptible to conjunctivitis?
What should I do if dozens of cases of variants have been found in China?
Suddenly, the overwhelming news about the new crown "new strain will make children get conjunctivitis" came in, and even I wanted to wholesale some eye drops and put them on sale in the circle of friends.
What the hell is going on? In fact, it was a non-peer-reviewed study in India next door.
PART 01
New crown conjunctivitis
In fact, XBB.1.16 and XBB.1.5 are close relatives, source: WHO
But why is conjunctivitis involved?
In this article, it was found that in 42.8% of positive infants there was itchy, non-purulent conjunctivitis accompanied by mucous discharge and thickening of the eyelids. However, the good news is that none of these children need to be hospitalized and have recovered with symptomatic treatment.
Children's eye secretions, source: self-pay purchase
In this way, an unofficially released message sent by an Indian doctor has caused countless parents to worry about their children's eye health, and even panic about the XBB.1.16 variant, but in fact this article has a very big problem:
It's spring!
You know, New Delhi's spring pollen is very powerful, even the Indian media "India Today" published a news article called "Don't let spring take your breath away" around this time in 2019.
New Delhi, source: self-pay purchase
The news mentions India's pollution problem triggering treatment spending, mentions that pollen is a "double whammy" in March and May, and mentions a quote:
"Some people have watery, itchy, puffy eyes, while others develop eczema" - solved.
In fact, there was no control or blinding in this "study", but only observed that children infected with XBB.1.16 had eye symptoms and suspected that they were caused by virus mutations, and even mentioned at the end of the article that "the results of this study may be beneficial to clinicians, pediatricians, public health experts and parents to detect the disease early and manage it appropriately".
In other words, XBB.1.16 is more likely to cause conjunctivitis, which is unreliable.
Don't be frightened by exaggerated information, source: pay for it yourself
Although we don't have to worry too much about the child's eyes being tossed by XBB.1.16, we still need to understand the objective fact, that is, children infected with the new crown have been infected with conjunctivitis in the past.
A 2020 Wuhan study found that more than 22% of more than 200 children hospitalized with new crown infection reported eye problems, including conjunctivitis, but compared with the high severity and fatality rate of the original strain at that time, conjunctivitis did not cause concern.
PART 02
XBB.1.16
Aside from conjunctivitis, many people are still afraid of this XBB.1.16 variant that they have never met before because they see some self-media information that threatens marketing every day, but in fact, they don't have to.
XBB.1.16 was actually discovered back in January, and the variant nickname was not either Kraken or Gryphon as before, it was nicknamed "Arcturus".
It is genetically similar to XBB.1.5, which previously occupied the absolute main force in the United States, but soon increased rapidly in the United States and even the world.
XBB.1.16 accounts for about 9.3%, source: CDC
As for why it spreads so quickly, a study (doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.04.06.535883), also published in bioRxiv, also without peer review, noted that XBB.1.16 spread 1.27 times faster than its close relatives, XBB.1 and XBB.1.5, respectively.
In addition, XBB.1.16 also has a strong ability to escape the new crown antibody, that is, it can effectively resist immunity induced by immunization.
Against the backdrop of ultra-fast transmission and super-escape, the only good thing that may be good is that WHO has not found more severe symptoms after infection with XBB.1.16.
T cell epitopes against S protein are largely 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, which has good recognition ability for various variants including XBB variants, so vaccination can still effectively reduce the risk of severe conditions.
In the face of the situation that XBB.1.16 has appeared in China, in fact, as overseas, the risk can be reduced through vaccination.
Overview of domestic new coronavirus variants, source: GISAID
Therefore, older adults or people with underlying medical conditions who received earlier vaccinations, especially those at higher risk of severe disease after infection, should still consider vaccination (or booster doses) if they are eligible and wish to reduce their risk.
For specific selection methods, please refer to... Next to this table of egg pain Oh: ↓
Source: Homemade
*Special Thanks: Dr. Ji Wai Wang for his guidance
*Official requirements: The results of the study show that people who experience natural infection after basic immunization and those who have completed the established immunization program can produce better immune protection through multiple antigen stimulation. For such people, the effect of revaccination in a short period of time is limited, and there is no need to continue vaccination for the time being. Subsequently, it will be determined whether the relevant population needs to continue vaccination according to the virus mutation and vaccine research and development progress.
PART 03
What is Arcturus
The last thing to introduce is "Arcturus", because today is China Space Day, so I will also talk about space.
As mentioned above, the previous XBB variants have been named "Cerberus", "Gryphon" and other monsters that are very fierce at first glance, making people feel that this variant is very terrifying.
Arcturus is in the lower middle, source: Buy it at your own expense
This time XBB.1.16 was named "Arcturus", which may not be very familiar to people who do not follow the stars, but it is actually quite talkative.
Arcturus, also known as α Boo/Boomeni α, is the brightest star in the constellation of Boot and can be seen with the naked eye.
The word "Arcturus" is derived from the Greek "Αρκτοῦρος" and means "caretaker of the bear". This is because Zeus fell in love with a princess named Callisto, but after the incident was learned by Zeus' wife Hera, Hera turned Callisto into a bear.
And Acas, the son of Zeus and Callisto, almost shot Callisto, who turned into a bear, because he did not know the situation when he grew up, and at a critical moment Thursday turned Akkas into a bear as well, and put two bears (Callisto and Arcas) in the sky to become Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
Goddess Hera, source: Buy at your own expense
Arcturus is the star that Zeus's wife Hera used to guard the two constellations, and this star is the brightest.
Interestingly, there is also a Greek environmental NGO called "Αρκτοῦρος", which specializes in wildlife conservation.
Wildlife, source: Buy at your own expense
And although we can't protect wild animals like Αρκτοῦρος, if we can do a good job of vaccination, reduce the possibility of spreading the disease to ourselves and others, then we can't be the brightest star in the night sky...
You can also be the most beautiful boy in the crowd!
May the world be free of epidemics
pill
Disclaimer: This article is created for personal interest, only to let more ordinary people have a clearer understanding of the vaccine, the content views do not represent any organization, unit, institution, did not accept any form of sponsorship, all pictures are from the online public platform or has paid to purchase personal use rights of the depositphotos platform, if the content is wrong, everyone do more self-criticism (not).