- A new variant of Omicron emerged in January, in India, and is spreading around the world, although it is still marginal in Europe.
- Placed under surveillance by the World Health Organization (WHO), it appears to be highly transmissible without involving any danger factors.
- Virologist Bruno Lina believes that we will have to live with Covid-19 which will circulate permanently “low noise”, unlike the flu or bronchiolitis, with peaks expected in the winter period.
Even if he is much less talked about, the Covid-19 is still there. The latest XBB.1.16 variant, dubbed Arcturus, named after the brightest star in the constellation Bouvier, was detected in January in India. “It represents 4 to 5% of cases in North America and it is marginal in Europe”, reports Lyon virologist Bruno Lina, member of the Covars (committee for monitoring and anticipating health risks). However, we are not yet finished with this coronavirus.
A variant under surveillance
More transmissible, Arcturus does not present dangerousness factors, “there will be no epidemic wave” assures the professor. According to this specialist, we are only witnessing the “game of musical chairs” of the variants. In India, vaccination coverage is not the same as in Europe. “There were fewer recalls and they were very often carried out with the initial stock and not BA4 or BA5”, specifies the expert. This contributes to explaining that more cases are recorded there, but it is not a massive epidemic phenomenon which generates numerous hospitalizations, as during the Delta wave.
After the Alpha, Delta, Omicron waves and their BA1 and BA2 variants, there is no longer any variant deemed to be worrying. The World Health Organization (WHO) has simply classified Arcturus under surveillance. “The Omicron variants settle with less nasty sub-lineages”, sums up Marie-Line Andreola, CNRS research director in biochemistry and virology in Bordeaux.
The symptoms noted in people infected with the new variant Arcturus are fever, cough, fatigue and, for young patients, conjunctivitis. “This symptom was only noted in 16 patients out of thousands of infected”, relativizes Professor Bruno Lina, for whom these data are not robust enough. “Some children may have conjunctivitis but it is not systematic,” he clarifies. “There has been no validation by peers on this point”, abounds Marie-Line Andreola.
If we often compare the Covid-19 with the seasonal flu to evoke the fact that we will have to live with it, Professor Bruno Lina believes that “the Covid will have the epidemiology of the Covid”. According to what we know of him at this time, he believes that “it will circulate quietly in a somewhat permanent way”, which is not the case with the flu virus or bronchiolitis. “The epidemic resumption will most likely take place in the fall or winter, depending on the other viruses”, he adds.
What is certain is that a booster shot for frail people, every six months, is recommended. A vaccination campaign is currently underway in this direction. We know that the vaccines we have are effective against this new variant even if the duration of protection is a little shorter than for the previous ones.