Scientists are worried about the new corona variant, which has spread rapidly in the United States recently.
It has been named XBB.1.5., and is a subvariant of omikron.
At the beginning of December, it accounted for four percent of the infection cases in the United States. Now it accounts for approximately 40 per cent, which makes it the dominant variety in the country, reports The Guardian.
XBB.1.5. has been nicknamed “The Kraken” by a Canadian researcher, a name that has also gained a foothold in the international media. The nickname refers to the Norwegian mythical animal that represents a huge sea monster.
XBB.1.5 definitely earns a nickname with its record-setting growth advantage and both very high immune escape and ACE2 binding. I suggest “Kraken”. (This one isn’t from Greek mythology, but it’s a familiar name).https://t.co/zvCRY7jQIX
— T. Ryan Gregory (@TRyanGregory) December 28, 2022
According to estimates from the USA, XBB.1.5 can spread more than twice as fast as BQ.1.1, which is the dominant variant in Norway.
– Highly contagious
“Kraken” is a sub-variant of omikron that has developed from the variant “XBB”, which was detected in Europe in early autumn and in Norway in mid-December.
– In addition to the ability of its predecessors to bypass immunity, the variant also has a new mutation which means that it binds to our cells quite easily. That is why it is more contagious and now shows a great ability to spread in the USA, says assistant director of health Espen Rostrup Nakstad.
He explains that it is difficult to compare infectivity between different virus variants. This is because a variant’s infectiousness decreases as the population becomes immune to it. However, fewer people will be protected against a new variant.
– But there is no doubt that XBB.1.5. infects more easily in the USA right now, says Nakstad.
THE DEVELOPMENT: Assistant director Espen Rostrup Nakstad says that it is difficult to estimate exactly how contagious the new variant is. Photo: Aleksander Myklebust / TV 2
In the USA, and especially in New York, the number of corona patients in hospitals is now increasing, reports say BBC.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the variant is also spreading in Europe, and has so far been confirmed in 25 countries.
– WHO is following the situation closely and assessing the risk posed by the new subvariant, the organization signs Twitter.
Probably no more dangerous
There is currently nothing to indicate that the virus variant leads to more serious disease compared to other omicron variants, according to Nakstad.
CORONA TEST: Large crowds try to secure a corona test in Brooklyn in New York in mid-December. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP
– Preliminary reports indicate that the vaccines still protect against serious disease. Nevertheless, there is reason to follow developments closely, as the World Health Organization has stated, he says.
The fact that a virus variant is so contagious can be worrying anyway as more people will get sick, including the elderly or people with underlying diseases, writes The Guardian.
– I don’t think there is any reason to panic, says Ravi Gupta, who is professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge to the newspaper.
– What we are most worried about is whether it leads to more serious illness, and there is no evidence of that. However, people should make sure they have had the vaccines they have been recommended,
MASK: In the streets of New York, many people wear masks. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Reuters
Uncertain situation
In Norway, new subgroups of BQ.1 and BA.5 have dominated in late autumn.
According to Nakstad, “Kraken” has not been detected in this country.
– The predecessor was barely detected in Norway in weeks 44 and 46, according to FHI’s weekly report, but not in weeks 47 and 48.
– How do you see the infection situation in Norway developing?
– The flu wave will persist for a few more weeks, while the corona infection has somewhat leveled off at a high level. How the spread pattern will be in the next few weeks is uncertain, says Nakstad.
Based on the number of hospitalizations that are reported, Nakstad believes that there will still be many patients in need of care to be treated beyond January.
CHALLENGES: Several Norwegian hospitals have capacity challenges as a result of many patients and sick employees. Photo: Kristian Haug Hansen / TV 2
On Tuesday, there were approximately 9,000 patients admitted in Norway, of which 7,000 were emergency admissions and nearly 2,000 were planned admissions.
– It is a level that is somewhat higher than at the same time last year, when we had the first micron wave. The difference now is that we also have a flu wave, which creates many patients requiring isolation and quite a lot of sick leave.
On Wednesday, TV 2 wrote about how capacity at several Norwegian hospitals has been blown up. Read the case here.
