![]() ![]() “Having antibodies against HIV doesn’t clear the HIV,” she said. ![]() In chronic infections like HIV, the presence of antibodies is not correlated with protection. “The immune response to infection is complex and antibodies are just one part of our armamentarium,” she said. We don’t have enough information yet to know if people with positive antibody tests are protected against another COVID-19 infection, or if they are capable of being carriers of COVID-19 and infecting others.ĭionne-Odom offers examples from other infectious diseases. ![]() “But a positive antibody test doesn’t mean you can go out freely and not wear a mask,” Dionne-Odom said. Jodie Dionne-Odom, M.D.People say, “I really want to know if I have been exposed so I can be with my granddaughter,” for instance. “It is really important for people to understand what the result means for them,” Dionne-Odom said. (UAB’s Abbott test is authorized by the FDA.) Doctors within the provider network can help ensure that if you are tested, that your lab work is sent to a lab that will use a reliable, FDA-authorized test.īut it is the next step that causes problems. In most cases, to be covered the tests must be either FDA-authorized or in the process of seeking authorization. This 100% coverage applies when the tests are ordered by a health care provider who has determined that the testing is medically appropriate for the individual. Viva Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama cover 100% of antibody and diagnostic (PCR) testing, with no co-pay. A negative antibody test, or nonreactive antibody test, means you likely have not been exposed. If taken during the right timeframe, though, a positive antibody test - also referred to as a reactive antibody test - means you likely have been infected with SARS-CoV-2. “If you get the test too early after exposure, antibody levels may not be high enough to produce a positive test.” “It takes 14- to 21 days to develop a good IgG response,” Dionne-Odom said. “If a person has had contact with the virus recently, it will tell you.” “That’s probably the only question that we can answer so far with that test specifically,” Lima said. ” His lab has been comparing its antibody test results with samples from the same patients who received positive results with the PCR tests used to diagnose active COVID-19 infection. “We have not seen a lot of either false positives or false negatives. “We are happy with the test that we have,” Lima said. But you don’t want to give yourself false hope - antibody tests are not giving you information you can act on yet.” I would be interested in knowing my results on an antibody test as well. “There are people who were sick in March or April and they feel it will give them peace of mind to know whether they had COVID-19. That’s not because testing is inherently inaccurate. “There are people who were sick in March or April, and they feel it will give them peace of mind to know whether they had COVID-19,” said Jodie Dionne-Odom, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases. IgG antibodies are produced in the second wave of the body’s response against infection and are more long-lasting than their precursor antibodies, immunoglobulin M (IgM). The Abbott test looks for the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies that are reactive against SARS-CoV-2. The test currently used at UAB, by Abbott, has proven to be accurate, said Jose Lima, M.D., director of the UAB Immunology Lab in the Department of Pathology, which can run hundreds of antibody tests per day. There are a number of different antibody tests available, of varying reliability. Antibodies are highly specific if a person’s blood contains antibodies that bind to SARS-CoV-2, that person has probably been infected sometime in the past two weeks to several months. The tests expose a person’s blood to (inactive) pieces of SARS-CoV-2. These blood tests search for the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. That is one of the biggest questions in the world right now, and many people are looking to COVID-19 antibody tests for the answer. Image courtesy Abbott.Have I had COVID-19? UAB is using the Architect antibody test from Abbott. Editor's Note: The information published in this story is accurate at the time of publication. Always refer to uab.edu/uabunited for UAB's current guidelines and recommendations relating to COVID-19. ![]()
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