The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC, its acronym in English) has decided on the variant known as the ‘kraken’ which it predicts within a few weeks will become the dominant one worldwide. The agency confirmed that, for now, there are no signs that XBB.1.5 causes a more serious coronavirus infection than the Omicron subvariant previously circulating in Europe. “There are currently no signs that the severity of XBB.1.5 infection is any different. for the previously circulating omicron sub-variant,” explained the ECDC.

Currently, they do not have sufficient information to know how treatment of this new variant will work and have reported that there are no specific data on the efficacy of therapies such as nirmaterlvir/ritonavir or remdesivir for XBB.1.5, however, it is expected to be susceptible to this antivirus as shown by XBB. “There are some knowledge gaps regarding XBB.1.5 and this rating is subject to change in the coming weeks as more evidence becomes available,” they said in a statement.

Regarding vaccines, and while the ECDC acknowledges that there are no estimates of effectiveness for this subvariant, the current ones remain “effective” against severe disease because the Omicron variant was previously and currently dominant in the European Union.

XBB. 1.5 it was first detected in samples in the United States in October 2022. From then on, it spread rapidly across the country and showed greater spreadability than its predecessors. However, despite the fact that certain regions of Europe such as the UK have seen an increase in cases, the proportion of cases of this subvariant reported in the European Union has been less than 2.5 per cent in recent years. week of 2022.