Cases of a new Covid variant have recently emerged and experts say children with the "Arcturus" strain are displaying a specific symptom.
In the last month, India has seen infection rates rise of the Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.16, with officials reinstating mandatory mask wearing and launch mock hospital drills. There are Arcturus cases are present in the UK, but there are less than 100 confirmed cases.
Now, health officials are warning that children who become ill with Arcturus are experiencing itchy and red eyes.
Dr Vipin Vashishtha - paediatrician and former head of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Immunisation - warned that Conjunctivitis is being reported with new cases in younger people.
As reported by Birmingham Live, Dr Vashishtha said: "An infantile phenotype seems emerging."
The common eye condition is causes the eyes to become itchy and sticky. It is usually the result of infection or allergies and clears up by itself in a couple of weeks.
Richard Reithinger, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the nonprofit research institute RTI International, said "it is probably too early to tell" if the virus's symptom set has truly shifted.
But Professor Paul Hunter, a infectious diseases expert based at the University of East Anglia, told the Mail he didn't think the new variant would hit the UK particularly hard. "I suspect we will see a wave of infections with this variant," he said.
"I doubt it will cause a big wave, probably not even as great as the one we have just had in the UK."
Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Covid technical lead, said: “It's been in circulation for a few months.
"We haven't seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations, but that's why we have these systems in place. It has one additional mutation in the spike protein which in lab studies shows increased infectivity as well as potential increased."
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