“Kraken” or XBB.1.5 is considered as the current most transmissible among COVID-19 variants worldwide (Yale Medicine, 2023). It was first discovered in October 2022 with its origin speculated to be coming from New York (BBC News, 2023).
March 31, 2023 — The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on February 7 that the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5—nicknamed “Kraken”—has been detected in the Philippines.
According to the report, one case was identified as XBB.1.5 during the latest sequencing of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC).
The World Health Organization (WHO) calls XBB.1.5 the “most transmissible variant yet” based on how quickly it proliferated in the US and Singapore in the past months.
According to infectious disease expert Dr. Franco Felizarta, no data is showing that the XBB.1.5 variant results in more serious ailments.
“In terms of infectiousness, it’s the most infectious today; but in terms of severity, it’s not more severe than the other variants,” Dr. Felizarta said during the Stop C.O.V.I.D Deaths Webinar Series.
Based on the WHO’s risk assessment, this subvariant does not present any difference in clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant. It also indicates that XBB.1.5 will likely contribute to an increase in cases but not in deaths. Despite this, the XBB.1.5 continues to be monitored by health agencies given the dramatic increase in cases worldwide brought on by this strain.
With the Kraken reaching our shores, Dr. Felizarta suggests that hybrid immunity—vaccination and prior infection—is our best protection against it as well as against the succeeding COVID-19 variants.
Hybrid immunity will also aid in the shift of COVID-19 from a pandemic to an epide-mic; however, death and severe illness are still possible especially for the elderly, immunocompromised, and those with many comorbidities.
“These are the patients who have to be given boosters aggressively and regularly,” Dr. Felizarta emphasized.
Will the Kraken result in long COVID?
If XBB.1.5 was the first variant, it would cause severe infections including long COVID since everyone would be immunologically compromised. Considering that at least 75% of the world population is already vaccinated against COVID, most individuals already have higher immunity which decreases the likelihood of long COVID.
What measures are implemented to increase our ability to monitor variants and subvariants?
According to Executive Director Dr. Cynthia Saloma, the UP-PGC in Diliman and Mindanao can sequence 750-1,500 and 350 samples per day in a week, respectively. “We’ve expanded our capacity and we’re sequencing more than other countries, [but] we do not maximize those capacities because the cases are really low,” said Dr. Saloma.
She highlighted that the Philippines is on the verge of creating a genomics biosurveillance consortium where other hospitals are being trained for next-generation sequencing.
Dr. Saloma assured the public that through UP-PGC’s national genomic biosurveillance effort, they will continue to be on the lookout to track and investigate emerging pathogens in the country.
Anne Marie D. Alto
