How Do Coronavirus Variants Affect our Immune System, and How Can We Protect our Vulnerable?

<p>We’ve come a long way in our understanding of SARS-CoV-2. Since the first cases were reported in late 2019, the rapid spread of the virus required quick thinking, thorough communication across the globe, and immediate action within the medical community. SARS-CoV-2 spread rapidly and began mutating differently all over the world. Tracking, testing, and treatment options had to keep pace. We needed information quickly in order to treat people effectively and protect our most vulnerable.&nbsp;</p><br><p><br></p><p>Today, Siemens Healthineers President of Laboratory Diagnostics, Deepak Nath is joined by Dr. Ankur Mutreja, a global health scientist from the University of Cambridge, and Dr. Kevin Latinis, a clinical Rheumatologist with a practice in Missouri. Their experiences throughout the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak will help us understand how the virus continues to mutate globally, why viruses mutate, and how early antibody testing helped us to understand the ability of this virus to spread at such an advanced pace.&nbsp;</p><br><p><br></p><p>In this episode, you’ll hear about the known variants of SARS-CoV-2, how our immune systems respond through these mutations, and why names matter. We’ll also rewind back to the beginning of the pandemic and hear about some of the earliest serology tests that took place in a Missouri nursing home, and how that timely information helped us understand how the virus spread.&nbsp;</p><br><p><br></p><p><strong>Some Questions Asked:</strong></p><ul><li>What consequences can naming variants after countries or regions have? (2:09)</li><li>Could a new variant emerge that effectively sets us back to square one? (4:14)</li><li>How can vaccine development keep pace with these variants? (9:13)</li><li>Why use antibody tests? (15:18)</li><li>How can we take care of our most vulnerable? (19:49)</li><li>What are the next steps for data collection? (22:39)</li></ul><p><br></p><br><p><strong>What You’ll Learn in This Episode:</strong></p><ul><li>Why new variants of the virus continue to be discovere