Study Finds Nearly Everyone Who Recovers From COVID-19 Makes Coronavirus Antibodies
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
There’s been a lot of excitement about the potential of antibody-based blood tests, also known as serology tests, to help contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. There’s also an awareness that more research is needed to determine when—or even if—people infected with SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, produce antibodies that may protect them from re-infection.
A recent study in Nature Medicine brings much-needed clarity, along with renewed enthusiasm, to efforts to develop and implement widescale antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 [1]. Antibodies are blood proteins produced by the immune system to fight foreign invaders like viruses, and may help to ward off future attacks by those same invaders.
In their study of blood drawn from 285 people hospitalized with severe COVID-19, researchers in China, led by Ai-Long Huang, Chongqing Medical University, found that all had developed SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies within two to three weeks of their first symptoms. Although more follow-up work is needed to determine just how protective these antibodies are and for how long, these findings suggest that the immune systems of people who survive COVID-19 have been be primed to recognize SARS-CoV-2 and possibly thwart a second infection.
Specifically, the researchers determined that nearly all of the 285 patients studied produced a type of antibody called IgM, which is the first antibody that the body makes when fighting an infection. Though only about 40 percent produced IgM in the first week after onset of COVID-19, that number increased steadily to almost 95 percent two weeks later. All of these patients also produced a type of antibody called IgG. While IgG often appears a little later after acute infection, it has the potential to confer sustained immunity.
To confirm their results, the researchers turned to another group of 69 people diagnosed with COVID-19. The researchers collected blood samples from each person upon admission to the hospital and every three days thereafter until discharge. The team found that, with the exception of one woman and her daughter, the patients produced specific antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 within 20 days of their first symptoms of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, innovative efforts are being made on the federal level to advance COVID-19 testing. The NIH just launched the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Initiative to support a variety of research activities aimed at improving detection of the virus. As I recently highlighted on this blog, one key component of RADx is a “shark tank”-like competition to encourage science and engineering’s most inventive minds to develop rapid, easy-to-use technologies to test for the presence of SARS-CoV-2.
On the serology testing side, the NIH’s National Cancer Institute has been checking out kits that are designed to detect antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and have found mixed results. In response, the Food and Drug Administration just issued its updated policy on antibody tests for COVID-19. This guidance sets forth precise standards for laboratories and commercial manufacturers that will help to speed the availability of high-quality antibody tests, which in turn will expand the capacity for rapid and widespread testing in the United States.
Finally, it’s important to keep in mind that there are two different types of SARS-CoV-2 tests. Those that test for the presence of viral nucleic acid or protein are used to identify people who are acutely infected and should be immediately quarantined. Tests for IgM and/or IgG antibodies to the virus, if well-validated, indicate a person has previously been infected with COVID-19 and is now potentially immune. Two very different types of tests—two very different meanings.
There’s still a way to go with both virus and antibody testing for COVID-19. But as this study and others begin to piece together the complex puzzle of antibody-mediated immunity, it will be possible to learn more about the human body’s response to SARS-CoV-2 and home in on our goal of achieving safe, effective, and sustained protection against this devastating disease.
Reference:
[1] Antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with COVID-19. Long QX, Huang AI, et al. Nat Med. 2020 Apr 29. [Epub ahead of print]
Links:
Coronaviruses (NIH)
“NIH Begins Study to Quantify Undetected Cases of Coronavirus Infection,” NIH News Release, April 10, 2020.
“NIH mobilizes national innovation initiative for COVID-19 diagnostics,” NIH News Release, April 29, 2020.
Policy for Coronavirus Disease-2019 Tests During the Public Health Emergency (Revised), May 2020 (Food and Drug Administration)
Telemedicine is making a very positive contribution to healthcare during the pandemic and is being used in a variety of ways. Thanks for sharing this informative article.
I have not been confirmed as having coronavirus virus. I had every symptom of the virus in February 2020 a few days after my return to Chatham Kent after spending time with my family who live in Windsor Berkshire-traveling via London. At the time the reports of the virus were new so I thought was just a general winter virus. As my possible infection was 3 months ago I thought I may be of value with tests on anti bodies
Same here trip from Florida first week in February I get sick they said I had double pneumonia I was hospitalized for six days but there was very little conversation about corona at the time I did go yesterday for my physical and my doctor suggested let’s see if you had it by checking for antibodies so we will see the results today.
what were the results?
Same here! Both of my parents were very sick in February, especially my mom. I didn’t feel it either but my parents had just about every symptom except for a fever, but because they didn’t have a fever, we couldn’t get tested because there weren’t enough tests available. I would love to know if we had it or not.
January I was fighting a respiratory illness, by end of month was very sick, negative chest exray but very tired, slept alot, night sweats, no appetite, weird dreams, chest congestion. After 4 days ok to return to work but still very tired.
May 10th had antibody test at Quest Diagnostic…Negative. Perhaps tested for wrong antibodies can anyone explain?
It’s really strange and frustrating! My husband tested positive for corona mid April and had antibody testing done at LabCorp on Thursday. Friday his results came back as being negative for antibodies… I read this about potential explanations for a negative antibody test after having corona…
“But it is possible that people developed antibodies that recognized a different viral protein than the one used in the test, producing a false negative test result.”
I spoke to several doctors in our family and they all agreed that physiologically, it doesn’t make sense that your body would not develop antibodies after fighting off a virus, regardless of what kind of virus it is. I would think this would especially be true with corona because it is brand new and completely foreign to the body.
I’m in a similar situation… My family (myself, wife and daughter) was sick back in March, first it was my daughter who was already symptomatic after having to return home from abroad. My wife and I became ill about a week later after being exposed with her. We quarantined and isolated from the public but did not isolate our daughter in our house (its too difficult as we do not have the amenities). My wife and daughter both loss taste and smell and I did not. We all had a varying range of the known and lesser known COVID-19 symptoms, I was sick for about 2.5 weeks, my wife about 10 days and my daughter about 2 to 3 weeks. We were all tested for antibodies last week (mid May), my wife and daughter tested positive for IgG antibodies but I tested negative! I have not read about the possibility of a false negative due to a different viral protein. I have read from two different sources that actually 1 in 3 people who are exposed to COVID-19 and become ill do not produce antibodies. So I’m left somewhat puzzled… and because this is a new virus there are no clear answers…
Where did you go to take the antibody test? We went to LabCorp and they use an Abbott test. . . I know that the antibody test is obviously different than the rapid test, but it makes you wonder about the validity of their tests completely.
Also, the conflicting information is so confusing! I’ve read several articles that say everyone should develop antibodies. One body of research even said anyone who has had covid should have “robust immunity.” Obviously one study isn’t enough to go off of and I feel like anyone who has had covid should just act like they haven’t and continue taking precautions. But it would be nice to have some accurate tests and conclusive information!!
Agreed! My daughter’s coworker went to New York in late March to work in the hospitals with Covid patients and had a severe case of Covid19. She tested positive with a swab test. She just returned to Michigan and had an antibody blood test and was negative. I really don’t think there is enough information to say these tests are accurate.
My daughter and myself tests were done at a local urgent care, it was by blood draw and not the rapid test and bloodwork was sent out of town for testing waited about 5 days for results, I’m assuming its the Abbott test. My wife had here test done at Quest by blood draw and obtained results in about 24 hours. The amount of IgG antibodies noted for myself was not even marginal, my daughter and wife both had IgG levels of greater than 1.0. I think there might be two probable explanations for me:
1. It was a false negative test, but would the result be such that it would detect no IgG???
2. I may have what is called “cell mediated immunity”, from what I understand this is when T fighter cells in the immune system isolate and kill the virus before the immune system can generate IgG antibodies. I also go to a chiropractor on a regular basis (1-2 times a week) and from what I understand there may be some correlation with chiropractic adjustments stimulating the nervous system to boost the immune systems T fighter count. Also, there is some documented research that sounds like its ongoing to determine if T fighter cells have “memory” to destroy virus cells to prevent re-infection (kind of another form of antibodies?), but I’m not taking any risks and still follow all guidelines.
Since I was antibody tested in May and was sick in March and recovered in early April, about 5 weeks have passed since I recovered and about 8 weeks since I first became ill. I also was swab tested at the ER (about 6 days into being symptomatic) in March. Swab test was negative for COVID, my wife and daughter were not swab tested. I feel it is highly unlikely that I did not contract the virus after definitely being exposed to the virus as the rest of my family was sick (both having one of the most significant symptoms: loss of taste and smell), and tested positive for antibodies. Its not even I had a low exposure to the virus. I also was symptomatic: started with diarrea, then GI pains (ER suspected appendicitis based on abdominal CT scan), then body aches & chills and fatigue, then chest discomfort and burning that would come and go for hours on/off this was for about a week to 10 days, then some chest tightness but mild. After about 12-14 days, symptoms (headaches, fatigue, body aches and chest discomfort) nearly stopped for 1-2 days then would come back for another 2-3 days but they were milder than the first 10-14 day onset. After about 20-21 days it ended.
Wow, that’s so bizarre! It definitely makes me feel like the issue has to be the accuracy of tests and not whether or not people make antibodies. If people make antibodies for the strains of corona viruses that just cause common colds, there’s no way they wouldn’t make antibodies for a much more potent corona virus.
There’s two main issues here, accuracy of testing and what is truly unknown, speculative and/or assumed information. I have to think its possible that there is a certain number of people that are not producing antibodies, there was a report out of China that they found 30% of recovered COVID infected people tested negative for antibodies. I don’t think the inaccuracy of the testing could be at least 30%, but who knows? maybe, because I read the swab test at one point had only an accuracy of 70%, thats pitiful! Another medical related organization reports 1 of 3 people who recover are testing negative for antibodies. Also, “cell mediated immunity” is not just a some new explanation for COVID w/o antibodies, it is dependent upon an individual’s immune system response to most viruses and bacteria. You mentioned about viral protein in relation to the virus and detection in the antibody test, not something I searched about but is intriguing also. Unfortunately, for all of us there are just too many unknowns and factors involved.
I am perplexed. I had a variety of random, fleeting symptoms : diarrhea, vomiting for 24 hours, and then it disappeared for about 7 days and came back again for another 24 hours. I had it 3 times briefly but on an average of 7 to 10 days apart. I had a sore throat, dizziness and earache. I tested positive for IGg and IGm antibodies, but my swab test was negative. I was told I was near the middle or end of the virus. So I waited about 2 weeks and retested today and now there are no antibodies. I don’t understand. I wonder did I just have the flu, or allergies? My husband and daughter tested negative for antibodies and the swab test both times. I also find it interesting to find Scott say that his symptoms would come and go. That also happens to me. At times, I might have a constant dry cough all day and then it is gone the next, and I also lost my voice with laryngitis. Every time I talked to people to answer how I am feeling, I would become lethargic and have a funny feeling in my chest from talking. Even now, that I know longer test positive for antibodies, I still have random symptoms. The doctor said I had covid and now it is most likely gone because the antibodies are gone. Was the test correct the first time or the second time? Did I ever really have it?
When I had the antibody test, they said if you still have symptoms of the virus and it’s active, the antibodies will not show up on the test.
Yep! We were certain we had it as well back in February but our antibody tests came back negative. In both cases, probably just a more severe case of the flu that just happened to be at a time where a pandemic is occurring.
Oh wow, I would love to find info saying that if you still have symptoms/that it’s active, the antibodies won’t show on the test! (I also see someone’s comment below about biotin affecting results, interested in articles on that as well).
I became ill on March 22. I am still not 100% by any stretch of the imagination, but I started feeling better about 2 weeks ago. I was actively sick with symptoms for 8 weeks. Then I felt a bit better and was on the upward swing. And then I got worse for several days. Then I started feeling better again. And then I started having all of the symptoms again last weekend. I am over this!
Got worse. GP sent me to have a drive up test at the hospital-Negative. Got worse she sent me to ER because I couldn’t breath and had chest pains. I Had a Chest Xray to rule out pneumonia, all clear. had a Cat Scan to rule out blood clots, but there was fluid around my heart. They gave me IV Steroids and the ER doc sent me home with a 2nd negative test result. Dr. told me that it was probably Bronchitis. I said I’d had Bronchitis every year for 33 years, some years 2 and 3 times and this was nothing like that. He said I was just very unlucky and sent me home with no instruction other than stay away from everyone.
A week later I was worse, GP sent me to a cardiologist because my heart rate was so high due to the breathing issues. She wanted me to have a stress test. I couldn’t even walk on the treadmill I was so weak. Dr. was angry at me for not being able to walk faster on the treadmill. Sent me for blood work again and an Antibody Test. The woman at LabCorp blew out the veins in both my hands. The Antibody Test came back negative. He told me I was lucky and unlucky at the same time. Lucky because I tested negative so probably didn’t have it. But, unlucky because if I didn’t have it, I was so sick that if I did get it, it would not be good. And that I was in Limbo.
It took me a week to recover from the Cardiologist appt. Then started feeling better and last weekend had trouble breathing again and started coughing again and have chest pain again. I just can’t imagine that my tests are all negative and that I didn’t/don’t have Covid-19!?!?
This sounds very similar to my symptoms except the doctors won’t even run any tests on me I get sick I feel better I get sick again may God help us.
If you asked the antibody test for the covid19, it’s very unlikely they tested you for something else. The most probable hypothesis is that it was a different respiratory virus, especially if you say you had chest congestion, but negative chest x-ray (sars-cov-2 can provoke an interstitial pneumonia, visible with a simple x.ray)
The tests are being reported as 50% reliable. Also be aware that if you have excess biotin through supplementation, your test may not work properly.
Exactly same for me, had it in dec, 6 months later test negative for antibodies
Same here, spouse exposed to Chinese student. 2 weeks later I had symptoms, as well as my husband. We both had antibody tests in May, and they were negative.
I had the covid-19 while traveling in France for 3 weeks in February. I got all the symptoms, including loss of smell and covid fingers.
My husband (who got a milder version) and I could not get tested in February. We went for an antibodies test 2 days ago and just got our results : NEGATIVE.
The test we took (Quest Diagnostics) is supposed to be reliable. I can only suppose that we are no longer producing enough antibodies for the test to detect them.
We might try again later but we’re still sure that what we had was neither a common cold nor the flu. That deep and dry cough is like nothing else.
You still should have IgG antibodies, so your AB test for them should be positive.
I had the all the symptoms back in early March 2020 but I just got tested for covid 19 antibodies and it came back negative. Have you gotten tested after having it over 3 months ago? I still think I had covid 19 I had all symptoms sore throat, fever for 3 days body shakes, extreme head and body aches.
I was sick with an upper respiratory infection, lost my smell and taste, cough in the first part of March. I was never tested for covid. My dr just did an antibody test a few weeks ago, I was positive for them.
Hi,
Yes I was tested about 3 weeks ago, it came up positive for having antibodies. I was sick early March.
I’m sure I also had this in Late January. I was on a return flight from Houston and it was a packed flight due to the fact it was the super bowl playoffs. I was sitting next to an older Chinese gentleman who was coughing on the whole way back to LA. A week later my wife and I both got very sick with a bad cough respiratory problems bad fevers and chills that were so bad I felt like my bones were breaking. She as each went to urgent care they swap tested us and said we didn’t have either flu bug that was going around, I told us we a respiratory infection and put us on a Z-pac antibiotic. We remain sick for two more weeks. Now months later when we’re finally able to get the antibody test, we go to the same facey facility to take it and get the result back saying we were negative for having it… we were then told that if we did have it and devolved the antibodies, they are no longer in our system because too much time has passed and they had left our bodies?
A number of studies have now shown that ab are produced after infection with Covid 19, what now one look at is whether these Ab are neutralizing! Having Ab does not mean protection. They could even be enhancing! It seams to me that it is important to alert people for this fact for knowing that one has Abs might give a false sense of security.
I tested positive for COVID 19 with mild symptoms on 4/2 but on 5/15 tested negative for antibodies. how is this possible?
As far as I can tell, no test is a “gold” standard. Only by taking enough samples tests to create a statistically valid result, can we reasonably discern which approaches are effective. Best wishes to you that you remain healthy!
The gold standard returns to Koch’s postulates. You have to grow the virus out of a patient’s body fluids/tissues first of all. It seems that this tried and true method is not even being used. I now seriously doubt about 90+percent of everything we have been told about this virus and believe the latest studies that indicate most people may be resistant to it due to prior coronavirus colds are right. The CDC has lowered its estimated IFR to about .5% – 10 times lower than originally stated.
I had the same thing and I had the same thing
As the convalescent plasma coordinator at at state hospital, we test people who were infected with COVID-19 and had a positive nasopharyngeal swab, but test negative for antibodies. This is very frustrating for the donors, when they find out they are have negative antibodies. Can someone explain this phenomenon?
Yes. It is frustrating. I asked my Dr. how I could test positive by a throat swab April 10 and have negative antibodies on May 20. She told me the antibody tests are 44% viable. I read about a test that is still in the works to detect neutralizing antibodies, but they need the actual virus in the persons blood to test the antibodies against the spikes in the virus. So maybe we have a different type of antibody that isn’t used in the testing right now!
I tested positive early March. I have had three antibodies tests on three different dates all showing negative for antibodies. It is very frustrating. I wanted to donate plasma to assist critical patients.
Also curious how I could have fought it off without having antibodies now. Does anyone know?
I am a blood donor (O Neg CMV neg) and in 2006 I received a note from Hema Quebec saying I have Anti M in my blood and to be careful of transfusions. I don’t know to what or when I formed this antibody. Would this antibody be good against Covid 19. I presume its IgM..If I were to be tested for the Covid 19 antibody, would there be a way to tell that it isn’t the antibody discovered in 2006? Thanks for any info.
I was exposed thru relatives. Had vomiting with diarrhea for 2 days. Along with bad headache and body aches. My nasal swab test came back negative. They did antibody test when they did iv from dehydration. Antibody came positive for the one now. How is swab negative but antibody positive? And am I contagious without running fever? Am quaranting but just curious.
Note that it says “In their study of blood drawn from 285 people HOSPITALIZED with SEVERE COVID-19.” There have been reports that those with mild cases of COVID-19 do not produce antibodies, likely because their innate immune system (cell-mediated immunity) wiped out the virus before the adaptive immune system (antibodies) had to kick in. Not much solace for those of us who had “mild” symptoms and were nonetheless extremely ill with fever, nausea, chest pain, and shortness of breath; we’ll never know if we had it, we won’t be able to donate plasma, and we won’t know if we’ll get it again in a short period of time.
Cell mediated immunity and antibodies are both part of the adaptive and innate immune systems. When acquired after an infection, both protect against future infections.
Both can be a response to serious or mild infections. New approved anti body tests have near 100% detection rate of past infections (some of which were identified for testing through contact tracing rather than symptoms), which suggests that as with most viruses, cell mediated immunity is rarer.
It is of course possible for some, which means our immunity estimates derived from anti body testing will be conservative.
Developing symptoms but fighting it off with innate immunity is a paradox. You can only recover from an illness without an anti infectious agent medication if you develop increased immunity during the course of the infection. If you have sufficient innate immunity to recover, you cannot get infected.
Individuals for whom a mild infection does not confer relatively lasting immunity, will also not respond to vaccinations.
I tested positive for COVID 19 on 4/2, and had a antibody test 5/15 which was negative via Abbott reliable platform. How is this possible? I am concerned
Same situation…. My son in law tested positive April 17, he took the Abbott antibody test on May 20, and he just got an email saying he is negative for antibodies. It is so confusing because we know people who never had any symptoms and tested positive. Stay safe!
Same situation here for my parents and their cases were fairly severe.
I had coronavirus (swabbed positive 4/2) and do not have antibodies.
I was hellishly sick over the Christmas, until mid Jan. I would get better and feel like going out, then two days later flat non my back again. With no paid sick leave it was a problem. Fortunately I had a bit of back pay from another employer. Full range of symptoms though. Fine now thank goodness.
NEARLY all patients developed antibodies? What about the ones who didn’t? Why not?
Can you develop antibodies and still be contagious?
I have been exposed to the virus directly since May 7 and developed no symptoms whatsoever. I’ve taken 2 covid tests that resulted both negative. I’d like to know more about antibodies because how come I’m not developing anything?
My son in law tested positive on April 18. He had fever, aches, chills and gastrointestinal issues. No respiratory problems. He was quite ill for 3 days, and then bounced back rather quickly. He had an antibody test on May 20 (so roughly one month after diagnosis) and he tested negative unfortunately. Is it possible he tested too soon after infection? Or perhaps since his case was fairly mild, he didn’t develop antibodies? What a crazy virus!
Here to echo what my mom, Laura B., said! My husband tested positive for COVID mid April. He thankfully had a very mild case (fever, GI symptoms, severe body aches) that he recovered from quickly. We have spoken to a few doctors in our family and all believe that from a physiological standpoint, everyone should develop antibodies after having any kind of virus. Coronavirus shouldn’t be any different.
All of that to say, we went to LabCorp yesterday for their IGG antibody test and received results this morning. He tested negative for antibodies. … I’m just curious as to how many other people have tested positive for active infection and then negative for antibodies.
It happened to me too. In March I tested positive for covid on the PCR test. Then I had an antibody test and it turned out that I didn’t have them.
I tested positive by a throat swab on 4/10/20. I had a mild case of COVID19 with mostly GI symptoms. College students came to our facility and drew blood for antibodies on 5/19/20. My results came back negative for antibodies. How accurate is the antibody test?
My son and daughter in law had Covid, both had positive antibody tests, I was exposed to my son when he was ill, but my antibody test last week of April was negative despite my being ill with fever, cough, palpitations, shortness of breath for 8 weeks or more. I still believe I had this virus. I have never been so sick.
I went in to get Covid-19 antibody testing done on 5/10 with Sonora Quest Labs as a blood draw which was testing for the IgG antibody. I showed no symptoms of ever having been infected with Covid-19, however, my results came back positive for the antibodies. I went to go get my antibodies tested again 13 days later on 5/23, but this time with Telehealth Consult as a blood test with a finger prick and they were testing for the IgM and IgG antibodies. This was a RAPID result test which provided results in only 5 minutes. My results came back negative for both antibodies. Later that day, I went back to Sonora Quest Labs to have my blood drawn again to get another sample for the Covid-19 antibody test, and got results the following day. It showed that I was negative for the IgG antibody. This indicates 1 of 2 things:
1. Either the first test was a “false positive” resulting from human error or cross contamination or 2. I’m now testing negative for antibodies because the antibodies for Covid-19 didn’t remain in my immune system for longer than 2 weeks after “supposedly” having been exposed to the Covid-19 virus. I’m led to believe that the first reasoning is a strong possibility explaining my experience and my results from Covid-19 antibody testing.
I think that if you did have covid that antibodies would show up well after two weeks. I’ve read that they’re thinking people will have at least 6 months of antibodies and immunity, maybe more.
I think it’s more likely the test you took wasn’t accurate. Do you happen to know the brand? My husband tested positive for Corona mid April and then tested negative for antibodies through labcorp‘s antibody test. I know that the labcorp test is an Abbott Diagnostic brand test. Abbott just made headlines for having inaccurate covid tests that look for active infection, so I wouldn’t be surprised if their antibody tests are also inaccurate.
Not true for me. I am sure I had covid in February 2020. Extremely ill. All the other symptoms. First trip to the ER negative for Influenza A and B. Positive for pneumonia. It took 2 different antibiotics, another trip to the ER plus hydrochloroquine to recover. Tested negative on the antibody test. Board of health told me that the antibodies won’t show up after 4 weeks.
I would also like the info on the ELISA test please.
These results make me lose confidence in testing accuracy which could be due to reagents. Strange and can’t be explained on scientific basis.
I was sick in the beginning of March. I started out with a fever and I lost my sense of smell and taste..4 days later I developed a cough and upper respiratory infection. They weren’t testing then due to not enough tests. I was sick for about 5 weeks…my smell and taste have improved, no fever or cough. I’m still a bit tired and not 100% myself, but thank God better. I knew from the beginning it had to be Covid.
My dr said I met the criteria for the antibody test. I had it done about a week or so ago, it came back positive for IGg antibodies.
My wife, my dog, and I all caught the COVID-19 infection. The Symptoms we had were exactly as advertised and something that we’d never experienced before, I’m 40. A low viral inoculum coupled with strict self-care kept our symptoms relatively mild my slightly decreased lung function aside. We were more cautious than most while traveling abroad but I’m certain I caught it first from a 20 something heartily laughing within close proximity. If you’re curious about my dogs symptoms, EXPLOSIVE diarrhea, malaise and a runny nose. Two months later my doctor offers me a free Covid-19 antibody test, 2 weeks after the blood draw she calls with my negative results. Since I’m in the medical field myself I knew to ask what were my “titer” numbers, those values didn’t exist.
The test myself and most everyone else is being offered is not “The Gold Standard” Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) but rather the Rapid Whole Blood antibody test, which the CDC has characterized as inaccurate “more than half the time”. GOOGLE: “Table 1: Predictive value positive using one test or two orthogonal tests, by the background prevalence in the population tested.” if you want to see the CDC’s Rapid Whole Blood antibody test analysis …
I had the blood down serum test. My value was 3, I. Which I have no idea what that means. But it was positive for IGg antibodies. My husband was sick the same time as I was, he just had his antibody test done and he was positive as well for antibodies. I am 58yr old.
my antibody test came back positive with a value of 6.2. My husband’s value was less at 3.4. We both had symptoms. What is the significance of the values? Do titers drop after a while? Did I have a stronger form of the virus?
Please let me know where did you get the antibody test Elisa assay with values? me and family were sick starting mid March with all the horrible symptoms of Covid, but now testing for antibodies we test negative. Our antibody test was the Abott assay, no values listed. thanks
I was sick beginning of March, terrible cough, fever and I lost my sense of smell/ taste…but was never tested due to not enough tests at that time…however a couple of weeks ago my Dr said I fit the criteria for the antibody test. It came back positive, with a value of 3. The serum test was done at a centrex lab I believe. I’m not sure if a value of 3 is good or not. Better than nothing I guess.
Thank you for the info Katherine on lab for antibody test using Elisa assay. Having some value range is better than just a plain “negative” The U.S. should have collected enough of their own research data by now on the strain/genome of type of Covid here in U.S., to be able to get these tests right. – otherwise it makes me think we should be looking for something else that is making us all so sick for this length of time, and all of us are saying the same thing. Best to everyone on getting through this!
So much nonsense. This whole thing is nonsense. It’s a freaking cold virus, serology tests all over the world show it’s ubiquitous, it’s way more prevalent than assumed (except many experts did assume that), and it’s not deadly for that vast majority of the population. I don’t understand the fuss. Can someone please explain why the hell we’re still freaking out about this, other than the media is really good at manipulating people with fear and lies?
Well I’m sorry but you are misinformed. I had Covid-19 for more than 2 months. I am an otherwise very healthy, never sick person. This virus was brutal. It invaded my lungs, lining of my heart and my vascular system went haywire with high and low blood pressure, dizziness and horrible suffocating shortness of breath. It now over 2 months and I still have lingering symptoms and not sure yet about permanent lung or heart damage. Please take this virus very seriously, it is something to be reckoned with and there is still so much the doctors yet don’t know.
My dad was a doctor and guess what? Yes he got covid and He died. He was 50 years old and he was a very healthy person but the virus just destroyed his lungs. I also got it, and i have asthma. The new studies say that people with asthma are less likely to have covid. But here I am, 2 months since I came out negative. With chest tightness and asthma attacks! Oh and especially without antibodies.
Oh my God – In mid March, Me and my whole family went through severe asma attacks, chest pain, fever, nausea, dizziness, body aches, and all of the listed Corona symptoms. Thanks to some essential oils and Castor oil topical applications, or we would have died or been hospitalized.
Guess what? Last month, We all tested negative for both the swab nasal test and the blood antibody teso
Hi Gaby, Hope all is well. I too have asthma and other ailments as well. I tested positive for covid September 11th had all the symptoms like chest pain, difficulty breathing, mild fever, fatigue and the like. I got my antibodies tested today and it came out negative with a value of 0.6. Any idea why?
I’m having the same symptoms right now so hard to breathe weird blood pressure fluctuations
Great! Does this mean I can start wearing this immunity pin?
I tested positive for COVID-19 and never had any symptoms. I got tested because I found out I was in contact with someone who had it. I’d like to believe that I am immune, but I doubt that is possible, but I would like to know how I could help the COVID-19 cause. How can I find an outlet to donate blood or be examined to help others?