3 Cases Of Kraken In Indonesia: 2 Patients From PPLN And 1 CLOSE Contact

COVID-19 antigen rapid test at the NTB Health and Calibration Laboratory Center in Mataram, NTB, Tuesday 22 December 2020.(ANTARA-Ahmad Subaidi)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) reported the number of cases of the XBB.1.5 or Kraken Omicron Subvariant in Indonesia to date, totaling three patients.

Director of Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases at the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the three Kraken cases involved Overseas Travelers (PPLN) and close contacts.

"Until now, there have been three cases of Kraken in Indonesia, and generally patients with mild symptoms have been confiscated," said Nadia in Jakarta, Thursday, February 2, as quoted by Antara.

The three patients in question were experienced by a traveler from Poland while on activities in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on January 11, 2023.

From the results of close contact tracing of two residents of DKI Jakarta and one resident in South Kalimantan, all of them were declared negative.

The next patient Kraken was reported to have originated from Pamulang, South Tangerang, which was experienced by a 47-year-old Umrah traveler on January 31, 2023.

The female patient is known to have received three injections of the COVID-19 vaccine with the last interval of injection on February 12, 2022.

Nadia added that the COVID-19 vaccination provides protection for beneficiaries in suppressing the potential for transmission.

"Vaccines reduce the risk of transmission, but that doesn't mean there is no transmission. Vaccines effectively reduce the risk of serious illness and death due to vaccine protection by more than 95 percent," he said.

From the results of close contact tracing of ten people who interacted with patients in Pamulang, the Ministry of Health detected one of them who was confirmed positive for COVID-19 Subvariant Kraken.

Nadia said all Kraken patients only experienced mild symptoms such as colds and coughs, two of which had reportedly recovered after undergoing quarantine at their respective homes.

Separately, the Director of Graduatesarjana at YARSI University, Prof. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, encouraged the relevant authorities to be aware of the increase in the number of Kraken cases in Indonesia.

"For example, by detecting the possibility of cases, meaning that with PCR tests and whole genome sequencing examinations, contact tracing is intensive, especially because this is indeed more easily transmitted," he said.

Tjandra also suggested giving bivalent vaccines to people who are effective for the old and also Omicron variants. "While scientifically it will be assessed for the effectiveness of the vaccine, if there will be the next variant and subvariant in the future," he said.