Professor at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Sarajevo, Teufik Goletić, emphasized that, according to his information, the presence of the ‘Kraken’ subvariant of the omicron strain of the coronavirus (XBB.1.5.) has not yet been confirmed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“According to the information I have, XBB 1.5 has not yet been recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also, in GISAID, the international database, there is still no entry of the XBB 1.5 subvariant from Bosnia and Herzegovina (as of today), which further confirms that there is no evidence that the mentioned subvariant is circulating in the country,” Prof. Goletić said for FENA.
Kraken, a new variant of the coronavirus, has been recorded in America and many European countries.
Infectologist Ednan Drljević says that the kraken (a new variant of the corona virus) will be milder than previous variants of the corona virus, but due to the speed of its spread and the current presence of several types of viruses at the same time, it is important to take it seriously protection measures.
– This is a new subvariant of the virus, we have had omicron so far. Now the kraken has appeared, which is a combination of two strains of the Covid-19 virus, so that it has reached a speed of spread (which rose from one to 1.6), it spreads quickly but, according to the reports we have, the clinical picture is somewhat milder even than omicron soy that we now had – Dr. Drljević told FENA.
This virus also appeared in countries in the Balkans, and according to Dr. Drljević certainly has it in our country, “it’s only a matter of days when we will isolate it”.
– Especially because we had holidays when our diaspora came to BiH precisely from the countries where that virus was isolated. If it turns out to be, and most likely it is, something milder than the omicron strain, we won’t have any problems with the virus in terms of hospital capacity – he said.
A problem can arise if this virus spreads completely uncontrolled, because it spreads quickly. In that case, it could happen that many people get sick in a short period of time.
Therefore, he says it is important to continue to adhere to the measures that are still in force, to wear protective masks over the face and nose in healthcare facilities (and wherever possible), as well as to avoid larger gatherings in closed spaces. In case of any symptoms of cold, flu, covid, it is important to wear a protective mask, as well as measure body temperature.
Doctor Drljević reminds that so far each strain, starting with the one that first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan and ending with Omicron, had milder clinical symptoms, but spread faster each time. The same applies to the kraken strain of the virus that has so far appeared in the USA, but also in Romania, Germany, Austria, France, and Sweden.
