The technical name of the variant that is spreading rapidly in Norway is XBB.1.4.1. It is a mutated Omikron virus. A close relative of this variety appears to be taking over in the United States. In the United States, the increase has been very rapid. In the last week of December, 40 percent of the analyzed samples had the variant XXB.1.5. The Americans call it “Kraken” after the mythical sea monster. – The variety we have here is very similar to the variety that is spreading in the USA. It is good at avoiding immunity in the population, says virus expert Karoline Bragstad at the Institute of Public Health. EXCITED FOLLOWERS: Section leader Karoline Bragstad at the Institute of Public Health says they know the new variant is increasing rapidly in prevalence. Exactly how powerful is difficult to know because the institute analyzes far fewer virus samples now. Photo: FHI Was little in before Christmas In the last report last year, the XBB variant was at the bottom of the list with only five proven samples. – Recently there has been a clear increase and there are especially many from Oslo, says Bragstad. The expert from the Institute of Public Health states that few samples are analysed. It is therefore challenging to say for sure where in Norway the variant is increasing the most. – Due to decreasing testing, a somewhat reduced monitoring need and a reduced budget, the number of sequenced samples has now been greatly reduced to only around 300 samples a week, writes the Institute of Public Health. Most contagious to date, the “Octopus” is in the spotlight of the World Health Organization (WHO). – It has been found in samples from 29 countries. It is the most infectious variant that has been discovered so far, stated Maria Van Kerkhove in the WHO at a press conference on Wednesday. EXPLOSION: Virus variants in the US in the last weeks of 2022. On the far right you can see the violent development of XXB. 1.5. Photo: CDC The figures from the USA help to document this. During the last week of last year, the spread of the variant doubled. – We are concerned about the variant’s ability to spread. Especially in the US and parts of Europe, Van Kerkhove said. She added that they had no indication that the variant caused more severe disease than the Omikron variants that have been in circulation until now. CONCERNED: Technical director for covid-19 in the WHO, Maria Van Kerkhove said on Wednesday that the organization is worried about the rapid spread of the XBB variants. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP Poor protection On Thursday morning there was a meeting in the World Health Organization about the situation. The member states informed there about their assessments of the XBB variants. Karoline Bragstad attended the meeting. – The vaccines are not very effective against these variants. They protect against serious illness and death, but poorly against the spread of infection, says Bragstad. The variant XBB.1.5. Among other things, it binds more easily to the cells in your body than previous versions of the virus. Little in China China is now going through its first major wave of infection in the pandemic. Three years ago, the country managed to quickly suppress the disease. Now the protective measures have been rolled back. The varieties that spread in China are “old”. There are varieties that circulated in Europe and the USA in the early autumn of last year. – They have only reported a few samples with XBB.1.5., says Bragstad. “The Kraken” and its close relatives are far more infectious than the current Chinese variants BA.5.2 and BF.7. Next Monday, travelers to China can for the first time in the pandemic cross the country’s borders without going into quarantine. news clarifies: In the first version of this article, we wrote in the title that there was a “strong increase” of the Kraken variant in Norway. The correct thing is that it is a virus variant very similar to “Kraken” that is increasing.
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The corona variant “Kraken” is increasing sharply – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
