Fergus Walsh: “I tested positive for coronaviruses”

Antibody tests that indicate a Covid-19 infection will be available to the NHS and care staff starting next week. So what happens if a positive reaction comes out? Continue as before-and I should know.

Some of the work of medical correspondents is involved. That means applying for medical exams and tests. Forget the number of times you cleave your sleeves to shed blood to explain the story, and the number of times you went to an MRI scanner to image your brain. That’s what we call “show and teal” in the television industry. So when home-use antibody tests first came out in the news, I set out to show how they work.

All tests are run slightly differently. All you need is one or two drops of blood. Push it into the hole, add a little chemical and you’ll get a result within minutes.

As with the pregnancy test, a positive result is obtained if two lines are displayed throughout the sample window. I did a finger prick test with the camera and was surprised and delighted to find that I was positive for the antibody. Since then I have made further reports on antibody testing and have obtained the same positive result every time. You can see three positive result photos-sorry-but one of them has a faint line.

Imperial College London tests these simple home-use antibody tests for accuracy and ease of use. One of the teams there calculated that my repeated positive test was “possibly vanishing” that I was constantly producing erroneous results. In other words, I definitely have a coronavirus.

Covid Fergus

As a medical correspondent at the BBC, he has reported on global illness threats such as bird flu, swine flu, Thurs and Mars (both coronaviruses), and Ebola since 2004. It can be said that he was waiting for a global pandemic. Still, when Covid-19 came along, the world was as unprepared as it was unprepared. Now it’s here, like everyone else, it will disappear. Sadly, we may have to live with the coronavirus indefinitely. This column explores that new reality.

So when is this? There have been no symptoms for the last few months. I’m rarely ill, but I had a pneumonia attack in early January. I have been sick for about 10 days and have a cough and high temperature. I couldn’t shake off. My GP in Windsor diagnosed a bacterial infection and gave me antibiotics. These were a bit helpful, but in late January another course of antibiotics was needed. It seems they did the trick. Was it really Covid-19?

I do not think so. The first confirmed case of coronavirus in the UK was in late January when two Chinese people became ill in York. The first case of domestic infection occurred only a month later. I was reporting an outbreak in China by mid-January, but the most remote in the last few months was Christmas in Brussels.

So I don’t think I missed the story here-the first coronavirus case in the UK wasn’t me. However, after that, he had no symptoms. Cough, not hot, smell and taste normal, without any signs of pain or aches, headaches, diarrhea, conjunctivitis, skin rashes, or other warnings listed by the World Health Organization.

So I didn’t expect to get good results when I pricked my finger. I’m honestly fed up. In the tests I did, I found that the IgG antibody was positive. These form at least 2 weeks after infection.

The positive response has not changed my mind.

I think everyone I meet when I’m still walking around is infected with the coronavirus. I don’t want to infect anyone, and I don’t want to infect anyone.

I’m still an obsessive handwasher-I have repeatedly told the British people about the importance of social distance and hygiene, so I feel I need to give an example. Every public toilet I go to contains a demonstration of the desire for a perfect hand wash. Happy Birthday I won’t sing twice but humming in my head.

In the early days of the British coronavirus epidemic, there was much debate about how antibody testing could ultimately help us get out of the blockade. In March, the government was confident that antibody testing was a changer. This is to help indicate who was previously infected and protected by Covid-19.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple.

The government purchased 3.5 million finger prick antibody tests, but said they were not accurate enough when they were evaluated by Oxford scientists.

Since then, things have come a long way. Currently, there are some laboratory-based antibody tests that seem quite reliable.

Public Health England evaluated Roche and Abbott for antibody testing. Both require blood sampling and are not finger-stick home tests. The sample must be sent to the laboratory for analysis.

You can also purchase a home antibody test that must be sent to the lab. These are very accurate, but the results are not immediate.

The accuracy of the test is based on its specificity and sensitivity.

For coronaviruses, you need to make sure that your antibody test is very specific to avoid false positives. This may be dangerous, as it means that some people are said to have antibodies when they do not. They fall into a false sense of security and have fewer precautions to prevent infection.

Both Roche and Abbott’s tests are very specific and almost 100% accurate. This is very safe. Then we come to the sensitivity. This is a potential false negative test. In the PHE assessment, the Robotest was 87% sensitive and the Abbott test was 93% in samples taken 21 days after the onset of symptoms. This means that some people who were sure to have antibodies to the coronavirus could get a “false negative” result. This isn’t that important, but it’s still an error.

The two companies say they can provide 10 million tests to the UK and the government Antibody testing extends to first-line healthcare professionals From next week.

But for what? If you take the Roche or Abbott test and get a positive result, you can be sure you have Covid-19. This is especially useful for those who have not undergone a swab test on the nose and a swab test on the back of the nose. Remember that it is due to the current infection, Whether you have Covid-19 now. Antibody tests can tell you about past infections. In addition, you may have to wait a few weeks for these antibodies to show up in your test.

So that’s great. A reliable positive antibody test means you’re free from lockdowns, you’re free to meet friends who know you’re not infected, and you’re less likely to spread the disease, right?

Not so early. It’s not that simple..

There is no consensus on what a positive antibody test means to an individual. Some virologists I’ve talked to believe it gives some protection against coronaviruses, especially severe conditions, but it’s unclear if they last months or years.

With Sars, antibody levels began to disappear after a few years.

There is another problem. Current antibody tests do not distinguish between the presence of neutralizing and non-neutralizing antibodies that clear the new infection.

We also do not know the importance of T cell response -Another part of the immune system that does not contain antibodies.

Therefore, having antibodies against coronaviruses may not be the path you’re supposed to get out of the lockout.

Everyone I’ve spoken with says that you shouldn’t change your behavior based on a positive antibody test.

So what are the uses for deploying antibody testing for healthcare professionals?

First, it really helps to create a picture of the number of people with a coronavirus in the UK. The current estimates are roughly 17% in London to 5% in the UK.. This is a great path from or around 65%, estimated to be necessary for herd immunity. People with antibodies are certainly immune.

It is also the so-called asymptomatic case of how many people got the coronavirus without realizing it-people, it looks like me.

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