Covid-19: São Paulo registers 1st case of the Arcturus variant – 05/01/2023 – Health

Covisa (Health Surveillance Coordination) confirmed on Monday night (1st) the first detection of the XBB.1.16 subvariant of Covid-19, also known as arcturus. The case was notified last Friday (28).

The patient is a 75-year-old man, bedridden and with comorbidities, who presented symptoms of flu syndrome and persistent fever on April 7.

According to the Municipal Health Department, the patient was referred for care at a private hospital in the capital, and was discharged last Thursday (27).

The man has the complete vaccination schedule against Covid-19, including the dose of bivalent Pfizer.

The variant is being monitored by the WHO (World Health Organization) as of interest. According to the municipal folder, so far Arcturus has not shown seriousness or an increase in the number of cases in the city of São Paulo.

In India, where it was first identified earlier this year, Arcturus is now the main transmitting strain of Covid-19.

Among the main symptoms caused by the new variant are: eye irritation —similar to conjunctivitis—, dry cough and febrile episodes.

“The SMS reinforces the importance of completing the vaccination schedule against Covid-19, including the bivalent Pfizer, to protect against serious forms of the disease”, said the municipal secretary, in a note.

Vaccination with the bivalent vaccine is available in the capital for people over 50 years old, people over 12 years old with immunosuppression or comorbidities, indigenous people, pregnant and puerperal women, residents in long-term care facilities and employees of these homes in the city of São Paulo, professionals health professionals, people with permanent physical disabilities, the population deprived of liberty and employees of the prison system, in addition to the homeless population.

Who is outside the target audience, and is from 18 years old, can enroll in the basic health unit closest to home to try to be vaccinated with xepa, which are the doses that are left over at the end of the day.

As of April 25th (the most recent data), 1.3 million doses of the bivalent vaccine had been applied in the city of São Paulo, 49.6% of the expected amount.