The pace of hospital admissions with the virus is nearing some of the record lows seen in the spring of 20, before both years saw renewed surges over the summer. India saw a "strikingly similar" surge at the same time in 2021, Swiss variant trackers noted on April 27, making it difficult to figure out how much this is simply a "seasonal effect."įor now, COVID-19 metrics are continuing to trend downward around the U.S. While XBB.1.16 has been found across the surge of infections in India, it remains unclear what the exact role has been of this variant's mutations in driving that increase. ![]() Relative to the earlier XBB.1.5 variant, data from animal tests described by the WHO on April 17 found "comparable" ability to evade prior infections. Preliminary analyses suggest "there is little difference" in the ability of antibodies from vaccination to fend off XBB.1.16 compared to earlier XBB strains, the United Kingdom reported on April 21. "What we're really seeing is a kind of an estimated growth advantage, some evidence of immune escape characteristics, and therefore this variant may spread more globally and it may cause a rise in incidence," Ryan said. Since it was first reported in early January, the variant has only gradually increased around the world. The WHO has described the variant's growth advantage as only "moderate" compared to other strains. "I'm not aware of any major shift in symptomatology for this variant, but we are seeing characteristics associated with increased transmission capacity," the WHO's Dr. It can also appear before other more typical symptoms. But at a news conference on April 18, WHO officials described it as a "known symptom that already is part of COVID."ĭoctors have reported conjunctivitis sometimes showing up as the only symptom of COVID-19 in patients as early as 2020. Some have pointed to "pink eye" – also known as conjunctivitis – as a potential new symptom caused by XBB.1.16. In India, where XBB.1.16 had surged, the WHO reported on April 17 that hospitalizations and other measurements of disease severity were not worse compared with other circulating variants. Health authorities around the globe, including at the World Health Organization, have downplayed claims that XBB.1.16 is causing new or worse symptoms compared with other Omicron variant strains that have driven previous waves. Is this COVID strain causing "pink eye" or other different symptoms? ![]() The strain has been dominant there since February. Globally, India – which has seen a wave of new infections over recent months – has reported the largest share of XBB.1.16 sequences to global virus databases. Among travelers at international airports, the CDC's testing program has detected XBB.1.16 in around 1 in 5 positive samples pooled from arriving flights through early April.
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