São Paulo records the first case of the Arcturus variant of covid-19

On Monday night (1st), the São Paulo Municipal Health Department confirmed the first case detected of the XBB.1.16 variant of the covid-19 virus, also known as Arcturus.

According to the file, the patient is a 75-year-old man, bedridden with comorbidities, who developed symptoms of influenza syndrome and fever on April 7. He was transferred to receive treatment in a private hospital in the capital, and was discharged from the hospital on Thursday (27). The man has the full Covid-19 vaccination schedule, including the bivalent Pfizer shot. The case was notified last Friday (28th).

The variant is being monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO), as an interesting variant, which has not yet shown severity or an increase in the number of cases in the city of São Paulo. Among the main symptoms caused by the new variant: eye irritation (similar to conjunctivitis), dry cough and fever.

Known as “Arcturus”, XBB.1.16 is listed as a The WHO variable is under controlOpens in a new tab or window Since March 22, 800 sequences of the Omicron sub-variant have been currently analyzed in 22 countries, 23 of which are now with Brazil.