

How rare is COVID pink eye?Ībout 1% to 3% of patients with COVID-19 have had pink eye as a symptom, the American Academy of Ophthalmology said, citing studies based on earlier strains. The most common forms of pink eye spread easily from person to person. It causes inflammation on the outer surface of the eyeball and eyelids. Eyes turn red and swell and can produce a sticky discharge. What is pink eye, aka conjunctivitis?Ĭonjunctivitis, known as pink eye, is an eye condition that can be caused by a virus, bacteria or allergies. Lessons from the COVID war: US should have attacked COVID like a foreign invasion, experts sayĪre your ears ringing? Experts are studying whether its linked to COVID or the vaccine. "But the most distinctive feature is that it seems to have a tendency to produce conjunctivitis, particularly in children." "It tends to produce more fever than some of the other strains we've seen," Schaffner said. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.īut Arcturus differs from earlier strains in at least two ways. Existing vaccines and coronavirus treatments that work on omicron appear to work well against XBB.1.16, said Dr. Infectious disease doctors say the strain's mutation in the spike protein makes it highly transmissible but doesn't cause more severe cases.

How is Arcturus different from other coronavirus strains? The World Health Organization has elevated this strain of omicron to one of two "circulating variants of interest." The variant, which has been called Arcturus, is responsible for a growing share of coronavirus cases in the United States.Īs of April 22, it caused 9.6% of COVID-19 infections nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Īrcturus was first reported in January and has spread rapidly in other nations such as India and Indonesia. About 1 in 10 cases of COVID-19 nationwide is caused by an emerging coronavirus strain, XBB.1.16.
