LABORATORY PLATFORM FOR MONITORING SARS-CoV-2 BASED ON SURVEILLANCE OF INFLUENZA AND OTHER RESPIRATORY VIRUSES IN PERU

Palacios-Salvatierra R.; Huaringa-Núñez M.; Lope-Pari P.; Balbuena-Torres J.; Rojas-Serrano N. · Revista Peruana de Medicina Experimental y Salud Publica (2022) · DOI: 10.17843/rpmesp.2022.391.8380

Resumen

The current COVID-19 pandemic has shown in Peru the usefulness of having a structured laboratory surveillance system in operation for the last 22 years, such as Influenza, in response to the probable emergence of variants with epidemic or pandemic potential, initially in the form of sentinel units, and then strengthening and innovating, with own resources and external support to generate quality information. Biotechnological advances have been implemented for diagnostic confirmation and increased capacities in the national network of laboratories, facing to maintaining the efficiency, considering the diverse and complex realities of the regional levels, and overcoming difficulties in communication and articulation between institutions. It is necessary to consolidate this system with collaborative and coordinated work between components to boost its effectiveness and timeliness and promote genomic surveillance of new viruses and new variants, as currently occurs with SARS-CoV-2.