How Much Does the Coronavirus Antibody Test Really Tell Us? -News-Ocala.com

They stick your finger. You bleed After a few minutes you were told that you have an antibody against the deadly new coronavirus. You are immune! You can freely resume your normal daily life.

Or are you?

No one knows who is immune or how long they have been infected with the new coronavirus. Science offers a conflicting view of immunity, and researchers say only further research and time will convey.

Antibody testing is touted as an important part of the widespread testing that epidemiologists and politicians say must be done before the Florida economy is fully reopened.

However, the tests are full of uncertainty and misunderstandings, and health experts warn, and some people read too much positive results to return to precoronavirus life and risk premature public conflict. Increase.

“Any antibody test can give them false relief,” said Dr David Williams, chief medical officer of MedFast, the Brevard County chain of emergency centers.

Mr Williams is worried that those who test positive with antibody tests believe he can’t infect others with the coronavirus invincibly.

Not, he warns.

The active virus test or diagnostic PCR (polymerase chain reaction test) used to determine if there is a coronavirus is considered fairly reliable. That is the “cotton swab” test. Expands the genetic material (RNA) of a virus to detect if it is currently infected. However, this test has some problems, and in some cases up to 30% false negatives.

Scientists say antibody testing is unreliable. Look for proteins that are related to the antibodies created during the immune response.

Infectious disease experts, the Food and Drug Administration, and the World Health Organization have all warned that more data is needed before we can assert that coronavirus antibodies immunize the virus.

Doctors warn that tests aren’t good for diagnosis, but instead allow epidemiologists and public policymakers to get a clearer idea of ​​how widespread the virus can penetrate people and where to focus their action. An important tool.

In a study of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), these patients have maintained the antibody for an average of 2 years, but their immunity is significantly diminished at 3 years.

However, it is unknown whether antibodies against SARS CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) persist, and how long the immunity lasts.

A recent study in Nature Medicine by Chongqing Medical University in China found specific antibodies in the blood of all 285 subjects hospitalized with severe COVID-19 within 2-3 weeks of the first symptoms.

According to a recent post, the immune system of people who survived COVID-19 recognized a new virus, probably for the second time, despite the unknown degree of protection of the antibody and for how long it was still unknown. It has been suggested to be prepared to prevent infections from the NIH Director’s blog.

Considering all the uncertainties, Dr. Craig Delizish, who runs OMNI Healthcare, is also concerned that antibody tests may give false confidence and exacerbate the spread of the disease.

Deligdish, who provides antibody testing through OMNI, said, “It’s possible that some people have the virus lurking early in the immune process. Making people think they aren’t infected is harmful to the community. Will be. “

“The published literature on that is clearly over two weeks long, so we apply two consecutive negative tests to the CDC guidelines,” he added.

Not everyone has it. Earlier this week, the CNBC reportedly admitted that emergency medical provider CityMD in New Jersey falsely told 15,000 people in New York and New Jersey who were diagnosed with coronavirus antibody positives that the virus was currently immune. It was

Also, antibody tests, like most other medical tests, can differ significantly in accuracy and reliability. OMNI has discontinued at least one antibody test that showed poor results early in the test. Last month, the FDA ordered antibody testing manufacturers to test their data within 10 days. Otherwise, the test may be removed from the market.

Williams, director of MedFast, is also worried about the risks that people with antibodies pose to others.

“What I mean is that antibodies are infectious,” Williams said.

“You probably have overcome the acute physical signs and symptoms of the disease and have some immunological protection against the virus, but still haven’t cleared it from the system,” he added. “Someone has a positive antibody test and may still be shedding the virus.”

Some people who recover from mild, moderate, or disease-free infections can infect others for almost a month.

Even if the antibody proves to immunize the new coronavirus, it may only be temporary. Antibodies that currently protect people may not be months.

“There is no panacea,” Williams said.

While everyone’s body and system respond differently to the new coronavirus, Williams has seen multiple cases where it takes weeks to a month to test a person negative.

According to a survey conducted by Harvard Medical School, different people may have different contagious timelines, but they can become contagious for several weeks.

Studies show that most people with COVID-19 symptoms will stop transmitting 10 days after the symptoms worsen. Also, it may take up to 2 weeks for symptoms to appear. Two weeks if the infected person is asymptomatic and can be transmitted.

This creates a window of at least 24 days between the initial infection and the complete resolution of the symptoms if a person can be transmitted without necessarily realizing it.

“One of the major issues with this coronavirus transmission and the general rules of transmission is the striking difference in how it behaves in different individuals,” said Harvard’s researcher. “So everybody needs to wear a mask and keep a physical distance of at least 6 feet.”

Leslie Mattson in Melbourne was very ill in January with “a strange flu with some other strange symptoms.” She recently tested positive for antibodies to the new coronavirus, confirming suspicion of infection.

“I understand that more testing is needed on how the effects of antibodies relate to reinfection, but I think so. I’m sure it will be difficult to reinfect,” Mattson said. Said via Messenger. “But beyond that, there’s all the different stories about how each person reacts to an infection, so it’s safe to know. It was done, and it worked. It is. ”