Impact of Global Surveillance on Diagnostic Tools

Date:  March 22, 2021

Time: 8:00am PDT,  11:00am EDT

Viral diversity presents an ongoing challenge for diagnostic tests, which must be designed to accurately detect all current and future circulating strains.  High level of viral genetic diversity has important implications for patient management as number of diagnostic tests from screening, diagnosis to monitoring are critical for the continuum of care.  Recognizing the importance of this issue, twenty eight years ago Abbott initiated a comprehensive program to monitor global diversification of certain pathogens and search for newly emerging variants, assemble large volume panels of genetically and geographically diverse strains, and develop strategies to determine the impact of viral diversity on assays used for detecting and monitoring infection. Over the course of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the Abbott Global Surveillance program has been closely monitoring variants of concern and their impact on diagnostic assay performance.  In addition to viral pathogen monitoring, this team also identifies and develops emerging diagnostic disease markers such as HBV RNA.  Recently, the program expanded its expertise and formed a first-of-its-kind global scientific and public-health partnership dedicated to the early detection of, and rapid response to, future pandemic threats.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss and better understand viral diversity and the impact it has on diagnostic tools

• Explore SARS-CoV-2 surveillance: Where are we at today?

• Discuss HBV DNA or RNA for patient management

• Discuss how to stay ahead of the next pandemic with Abbott’s Pandemic Defense Coalition

Webinars will be available for unlimited on-demand viewing after live event.

LabRoots is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E. ® Program. By attending this webinar, you can earn 1 Continuing Education credit once you have viewed the webinar in its entirety.