Thought It Was an Eye Infection but It Was a COVID Variant... Spring Outing Season Warning

Low Severity but High Immune Evasion
"Adherence to Personal Hygiene Rules Is Most Important"

A new COVID-19 variant accompanied by eye disease has been confirmed to have entered South Korea. Since its symptoms are similar to those of common epidemic eye diseases, it may be difficult for the general public to distinguish.

According to health authorities, the new COVID variant XBB.1.16 was first detected in South Korea on the 9th of last month, and more than 150 cases have been confirmed since. First discovered in India in January, the variant's spread has increased in countries such as the United States and Singapore, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to designate it as a 'variant of interest.'

Nicknamed 'Arcturus,' this variant virus is characterized by typical COVID symptoms such as fever and cough, along with eye diseases including conjunctivitis, eye redness, and eye itching in some confirmed cases. Particularly among children and adolescents, symptoms of conjunctivitis such as sticky eyelids are more pronounced.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Generally, epidemic keratoconjunctivitis and other eye diseases spread in spring. This is due to increased outdoor activities such as outings and travel as the weather warms, and increased contact among children and adolescents due to school reopening. Additionally, the large temperature differences during the changing seasons, as well as seasonal factors like spring pollen, mold spores, and yellow dust, significantly contribute to allergic conjunctivitis.

Because of this, it is easy to mistake the new COVID-19 variant for a spring epidemic eye disease. Symptoms such as redness, itching, and discharge, which are common in spring eye diseases, do not differ significantly, making it difficult for the general public to distinguish.

There have been no reports so far indicating increased severity or risk, but caution is necessary as new variants tend to have increased immune evasion capabilities. It is known that the transmissibility is 1.17 to 1.27 times stronger than previous variants XBB.1 or XBB.1.5, and it also has significant immune evasion characteristics.

Im Suk-young, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters Situation Management Team, said, "Globally, XBB.1.16 is showing an increasing trend in some countries, and there is concern that it may increase in South Korea as well. Therefore, we are continuously monitoring the increasing trend and closely observing the occurrence pattern."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.