The covid variant XBB.1.16 called “Arturo” has been identified by the team of Professor Fausto Baldanti, director of the Microbiology and Virology Unit of the Irccs San Matteo di Pavia. This was communicated by the Councilor for Welfare of the Lombardy Region, Guido Bertolaso. “At the moment there is no news of other identifications of “Arturo” at the Italian level – comments Bertolaso - we promptly notified the Ministry of Health and our laboratories are in continuous contact with the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, with which they collaborate on national surveillance ».
Arcturus, new Covid variant reported in 22 countries. And in India the obligation of masks returns
“Arturo” variant identified in Italy
“I congratulate Professor Baldanti and his team for the important surveillance activity, congratulations to be extended to all Lombard laboratory scientists who continue the careful work of analysis”, continued Bertolaso. “The ‘Arturò’ variant – explains Professor Baldanti – was identified through active screening at the hospital which includes both hospitalized patients and patients accessing the emergency room”. “The European Center for Infectious Disease Control (ECDC) – continues the virologist – in the report of 23 March has not yet associated the variant with characteristics of greater impact either on severity or on the ability to infect, at the moment we are carefully evaluating the situation”. “For this new variant – concludes commissioner Bertolaso - there is no evidence to provide for additional measures: it is always important as prevention, not only for covid, but for all respiratory viruses, correct hand hygiene and the use of masks in the presence of fragile / sick people and when you have flu symptoms ».
Ciccozzi: «Same family of omicrons, has the same danger»
The fact that the variant of Sars-Cov-2 Arturo has been identified in Italy «is not surprising, indeed it is good news, because it indicates the fact that the surveillance of the variants works. In terms of dangerousness and contagiousness, it does not cause concern: since it is from the same family as omicrons, it has the same dangerousness as it “. Massimo Ciccozzi, director of the Epidemiological Unit at the Campus Biomedico University of Rome, explains this to Ansa, commenting on the identification, at the Irccs San Matteo in Pavia, of the Covid XBB.1.16 variant called Arturo or Arcturus. Given that it had already been identified in 22 other countries, including the United States, he explains, “it was impossible for it not to already be circulating in Italy, so having identified it shows the importance of genomic surveillance, which is different from epidemiological surveillance because it allows us to understand what’s really going on. We probably already have more than one case in Italy, but what matters is the symptoms and we don’t have to worry about this. As Kraken didn’t do anything in particular, Arcturus won’t either. As long as we remain in the world of omicron variants, we don’t have to worry: nothing changes for immunoevasion, or the ability to evade the immune defenses from a vaccine or from a previous infection”, which in any case tend to weaken over time.
In India, Ciccozzi points out, where the Delta variant, much more dangerous than Omicron, was also born, Arcturus has now become prevalent and is driving an increase in infections, but “the characteristics of that state must be taken into consideration, starting from the fact that it is a country that produces vaccines but which has vaccinated the population very little”. An Indian pediatrician reported that among the symptoms of the Arturo variant there is conjunctivitis, or inflammation of the eyes with redness and burning, but, the epidemiologist underlines, “this has not been scientifically proven, it occurs for many reasons, allergy, contact with infected. Being omicron it is contagious in itself but the symptoms are mild ».