What is 'Kraken'? Is it the dominant covid strain in the UK? Read details

With a dramatic rise in covid infections in China, questions loom over the new omicron subvariant 'Kraken' as it has emerged in nations including US and UK.

This new variant has accounted for around 40% of Covid cases in the United States. Health experts from the UK have warned of up to 9,000 daily covid deaths in China with the spike in the number of cases. As per W.H.O's Covid technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, the Kraken variant is already prominent in 29 nations and can likely be in many more nations.

About Kraken

As per reports, Kraken is a mutated version of Omicron XBB and is officially called 'XBB.1.5'. It was first identified in the month of October, last year and named after the mythical sea monster. On January 4, World Health Organisation alerted that 'Kraken' could be the 'most transmissable variant.'


The genes of the virus undergo random genetic mutations and changes in its surface proteins or antigens, resulting in a 'variant'.

W.H.O's Covid technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove said that the reason for Covid virus mutations is within the Omicron subvariant that allows this virus to adhere to the cell and replicate easily.

'Kraken variant has an additional mutation. It binds more easily to other cells', said Andrew Pekosz, a virologist, at Johns Hopkins University.

Nations affected by 'Kraken'

UK, China, USA, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Australia are among 74 countries where the new Covid variant 'XBB.1.5' has been detected.

Symptoms

It is reported that most of the Kraken variant symptoms will be similar to Omicron. There is no official data on it so far.

Which variant is dominant in the UK?

As per the UK National Statistics website: Covid infections continued to increase in England and Scotland. It also increased in Wales in the week ending December 28, 2022. In Northern Ireland, the infections increased in the week ending December 22, 2022.

In the UK, 3.3% of the population living in private households were experiencing self-reported long covid as of December 4, 2022.

It further stated that 'In the week ending December 18, 2022, the Omicron BQ.1 variant accounted for 56.2% of all sequenced infections.'

A specialist in infectious diseases, Professor Paul Hunter said that this variant will likely cause a surge in Covid cases in the UK.

FAQs:

1. What is Kraken?
   Kraken is the newest covid variant and an Omicron subvariant. It is officially called XBB.1.5.
2. Which is the prominent covid variant in the US?
   XBB.1.5 accounts for 40% of covid cases in the US.