Transmitting Faster, New B117 Virus Could Be A Threat In Indonesia?

JAKARTA - The government announced that there was a discovery of a virus case with a new variant of type B117 entering Indonesia, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was one year old in Indonesia. This new case was found in Karawang residents who had just returned from abroad.

Spokesperson for the COVID-19 vaccination from the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, revealed the chronology of the detection of the new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19.

In February, swab samples were taken via Indonesian citizens who had just traveled from Saudi Arabia.

"In early February, swab samples were taken," said Nadia, Thursday, March 4.

He said, the new variant of corona B117 was detected when Indonesian citizens followed the genome sequencing surveillance process. Surveillance itself is carried out by the government to check every sample of international travelers using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

"So a new variant was discovered when we carried out genome sequencing surveillance on samples of travelers from Saudi Arabia," explained Nadia.

According to information, two cases of Corona B117 were found in residents with the initials M (40) and A (45). They arrived in Indonesia from Saudi Arabia at different times.

Pit Kadinkes Karawang Nanik Jodjana said M arrived at Soekarno Hatta Airport with 49 other passengers using a Qatar Airways plane, on January 28, 2021, after undergoing a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test at the airport, seven of whom were positive for COVID-19.

"Of the 49 passengers, seven were found positive. Consisting of three people from Karawang, two people from Cianjur, one from Bekasi City, and 1 from Sukabumi," said Nanik, Wednesday, March 3.

Meanwhile, A arrived at Soekarno Hatta Airport on January 31, 2021 with 33 other passengers using the Garuda plane. Nanik said, there were four confirmed positive for COVID-19.

"On January 31, flights with Garuda, there were 4 positive people, one of whom was exposed to the Corona B117 virus. He was a TKI from Karawang," explained Nanik.

This new variant of Corona B117 is said to be more contagious than other variants by 40-70 percent.

The symptoms of the B117 variant virus include:

1. Headache2. Rashes on the Skin3. Muscle pain4. Discoloration of the fingers and toes 5. Fatigue and feeling lethargic 6. Nausea to dizziness7. Conjunctivity (red eye) 8. Sore (inflammation) throat9. Diarrhea

Ministry of Health spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the government could not guarantee whether the new variant of the B117 corona virus had an effect on the efficacy and effectiveness of the vaccine from the Chinese company, Sinovac.

The reason is, we still have to wait for the results of research from the Sinovac vaccine clinical trial team at Padjadjaran University and the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM).

"In particular, we don't have any research to see its effectiveness, but BPOM will certainly monitor this," said Nadia, Thursday, March 4.

However, when looking at global developments, Nadia said that so far there had been no studies showing that the new variant of corona from England had an effect on vaccine performance.

The World Health Organization (WHO), said Nadia, also has not released official findings regarding a vaccine brand that cannot deal with the new strain of the corona virus. Therefore, he asked the public to keep waiting.

The Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin also said the same thing. On Tuesday, March 2, Budi said that until now there was no leading journal in the world that contained the results of research by experts on the effect of the B117 corona variant on the efficacy of the vaccine.

However, Head of the Clinical Trial Research Team for COVID-19 Sinovac from Padjadjaran University, Kusnandi Rusmil, said that if this variant is too far from the original nature of the virus, then there is a possibility that the vaccine will no longer be effective against the corona virus. The Professor of the Faculty of Medicine, Unpad, explained that the mutation of the British virus was no more virulent, but the speed of transmission was admittedly high.

However, in a study, the Sinovac vaccine was said to be still effective in fighting new variants of Corona, both strains of the virus from the UK and South Africa.

"We have tested this vaccine in China against the new British and South African coronavirus variants, with good results," said Dimas Covas, head of the Butantan biomedical center in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Even so, Covas did not provide further details regarding the level of efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine against the new Corona B117 variant.

The government appealed to the public not to worry about the new type of Corona virus or B117. The government ensures that the COVID-19 vaccine currently in use is still effective against this mutation of the virus from England.

"The public does not need to worry about the impact of the entry of the B117 variant on the efficacy of the vaccine," said Wiku Adisasmito, spokesman for the COVID-19 Task Force in Jakarta, Thursday, March 4.

DPR RI Commission XI member Puteri Anetta Komarudin urged the government to immediately anticipate the spread of the new B117 corona virus mutation.

This new variant is said to be more infectious, so according to him, an alert response through testing and tracking needs to be done massively in order to prevent the spread rate. Moreover, Karawang Regency had become a red zone at the beginning of the year because of the transmission cluster in the industrial area.

"This threat must be watched out for and requires synergy from the central and regional governments," said Puteri in her written statement, Friday, March 5.

Even so, he assessed that the public does not need to worry about continuing to implement the 5M health protocol.