The new subvariant of COVID, known as the kraken, is the most transmitted yet discovered. This was warned by the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to information, the kraken (XBB.1.5), which is a mutation of omicron, has already been found in 29 countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Australia, Singapore and India. It already dominates the United States, held responsible for about 70% of new infections in the worst-hit areas of the country. It has now started spreading across the UK, indicating it is more contagious than competing strains.
However, according to scientists XBB.1.5 goes light
such as omicron and its other subvariants.
“We are concerned about its transmissibility, particularly in some countries in Europe and the northeastern United States, where XBB.1.5 has rapidly replaced other circulating subvariants,” said Maria van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead at WHO. She added that the increase in hospitalizations in northeastern Europe cannot yet be attributed to XBB.1.5, as other respiratory diseases, including influenza, may be partly responsible.
Statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the strain is responsible for 41 percent of cases in America.
Kraken has 14 new mutations in the spike proteins of the virus compared to its predecessors, which appear to have given it greater antibody resistance, helping it to
avoid vaccination or previous infection
WHO experts fear that XBB.1.5 could introduce a more dangerous variant of the coronavirus.
This is because increasing numbers of patients with the subvariant will lead to more opportunities for mutation and evolution.
Meanwhile, EU countries agreed on Wednesday to “strongly promote” a requirement that would force all travelers from China, regardless of nationality, to present a negative test for COVID-19 as the number of infections rises in the Asian country . The coronavirus test must be performed no more than 48 hours before boarding the flight.
