The highly contagious XBB and XBB.1.5 variants from Singapore and the United States were detected in Chile. Meanwhile, experts say that there is no evidence that it could be more lethal, but it does have a greater capacity to cause peaks.
The XBB and XBB 1.5 variants, known as “Nightmare” and “Kraken” due to their high contagion capacity, and who come from Singapore and the United States, They have already been detected in Chile.
As reported by Ministry of Health, these Omicron sub-lineages have been found in the country since December 2022, with a total of 129 positive cases for XBB and six for XBB.1.5, mainly travelers and cases under community surveillance. However, most have been asymptomatic and there have been no serious cases.
More than 40% of Covid-19 cases in the United States are now caused by the highly contagious Omicron XBB.1.5, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed on Friday, with the subvariant doubling since In the past week.
From the WHO, Maria Van Kerkhove, epidemiologist and technical leader for covid-19, said last Wednesday that “is the most transmissible subvariant of omicron to date.”
“We expect more waves of infections around the world, although that does not have to translate into more waves of death, because our countermeasures continue to work,” she added.
“Kraken”
The head of the Department of Epidemiology of the Minsal, Christian García, explained that any variant with a high contagion capacity tends to be predominant at some time.
However, he called for calm, pointing out that although “the first analyzes that have been carried out on XBB have shown a greater capacity for contagion”, he assured that these sublineages have not been found to be especially severe and cause more severe disease.
Regarding the use of masks to avoid overcrowding, García declared that after seeing the international situation, that might not be the way.
“(…) All measures are constantly being evaluated. We continue with a health alert and that allows us to be evaluating and, eventually, making some decisions,” García said.
Meanwhile, experts say that a peak of infections could indeed be caused, since BF.7 is also found in Chile, which comes from China.
The epidemiologist Gabriel Cavada indicated that XBB.1.5 has much more potential than the rest of the Ómicron variants.
“There is no evidence that it will generate a more serious or deadly disease. What is known so far is that it has this greater pandemic capacity than the others,” Cavada commented.
For his part, the infectologist at the Universidad de Los Andes Clinic, Carlos Pérez, highlighted the importance of vaccination.
“It is important to continue monitoring what is happening, how the epidemic behaves; continue to protect ourselves with the vaccines, complete the booster dose schemes and receive the bivalent vaccine, which contains the Ómicron variant”, Pérez pointed out.
However, he indicated that “no additional measure seems necessary, for the moment.”
As reported by the Ministry of Health, bivalent vaccination in the target population barely reached 20.38% of coverage. In other words, out of a target group of almost 6 million, only 1,600 obtained their annual dose against covid-19.
In its latest balance, the health authority reported 5,109 new cases of coronavirus, with a positivity of 18.37% and 46 deaths, therefore, the total number of deaths from causes associated with the pandemic at the national level is 63,000. 300.