Coronavirus, antibody tests: what they are for
Antibody tests were designed to detect Coronavirus antibodies in a person's blood: their presence indicates that the body has fought the disease.
UK government has bought 3.5 million Coronavirus antibody test. Professor Sharon Peacock, director of Public Health England’s National Infection Service, told that the test were being checked in laboratories for accurate. So within a matter of days can be used and will be distributed to public through pharmacies or Amazon. On the contrary, UK’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty stressed frontline NHS workers would be prioritised for tests once they are available.
So you need to know what are antibody tests before buying it. Antibody tests designed to detect Covid-19 antibodies in a person’s blood. Their presence in the blood indicates that the body has fought off the disease and is therefore very likely to be immune from reinfection. The testing kit looks similar to a pregnancy test and involves pricking a finger to produce a drop of blood, which is then analysed for two types of antibodies – with results available in just 15 minutes.
But the antibody won’t tell if you infected by Coronavirus. It shows if someone has previously had Covid-19, but does detect whether someone currently has the disease and remains a risk to others. This means the kits will not address a key pressing concern of many hospitals, where a lack of coronavirus tests means NHS staff have been forced to isolate at home with undiagnosed symptoms and are unable to work.
Although the kits didn’t give you a yes or a no to Coronavirus, the tests still can help doctors and nurses who have had symptoms to know whether they had Covid-19, enabling them to return to work sooner and treat patients without fear of infecting them. But still,for accuracy, it still need to be checked before roll-out.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, has said accuracy is key, even if it meant the tests are available later than planned. He also told: “If you tell somebody they’re immune from it, and they’re not, that is not a good position to be in. We must make sure that we get the quality of this absolutely right.¨