Pathology services continue to face challenges to detect the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and provide laboratory support to COVID-19 disease patients.
In the April issue of Pathology in Practice, Dr Sarah Pitt provides a further update on the virology, epidemiology, testing and treatment of this mutating agent of pandemic disease.
It is now just over two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the spread of COVID-19 met the criteria for a pandemic. Previous reviews have considered the characteristics of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the clinical disease COVID-19 and approaches to testing. This article will consider the effect of variants and vaccination on the epidemiology of this infectious disease. It will also discuss the role of laboratory testing in detecting this virus and tracking variants. There are now effective vaccines and antiviral treatments, and these will be reviewed.
