Viral Evolution and Implications on HIV and SARS-CoV-2

Nearly 37.7 million people globally are living with HIV, with 1.2 million residing in the US^1,2. Of those individuals, 13 in 100 in the US and 16 in 100 globally are unaware of their diagnosis^1,2. Although living with HIV has significantly improved due to new life-saving treatments, the virus continues to evolve and create new strains. Global surveillance is essential to identifying these new, rare, and emerging strains of HIV to allow for enhanced diagnostic assay development so carriers can be diagnosed and get treated. Even as late as last year, new subtypes of HIV have been identified, underscoring the importance of continuously monitoring emerging and changing infectious diseases. Abbott is proud to be the only provider of infectious disease solutions to have a viral surveillance program on this scale. We’re excited to share with the scientific and laboratory community our findings on the new HIV subtype L and the importance of global viral surveillance.

 

 

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