Corona… We’re Gonna Get You

So, let’s jump right back into this. Everyone across the world is chomping at the bit to try to cure COVID-19. A medical journal gives one prospective of hoping neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) will help to further the recovery and protection of COVID-19. NAbs have not been studied a lot in a clinical setting with patients. SARS-CoV-2 specific NAbs were found in patients from day 10-15 after the onset of COVID-19 and staying from there on out. The elderly and the middle aged patients had higher levels of plasma Nab titers. The article says, ” The correlation of NAb titers with age, lymphocyte counts, and blood CRP levels suggested that the interplay between virus host immune response in the coronavirus infections should be further explored for the development of effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 virus.”

This study was done in China and I hope to see opportunities like this being a global effort and formulating a way to help fight this pandemic. There are people recovering. Not everyone is dying. Because of this we need to be able to test to see if you currently have COVID or if you HAD COVID. Well, antibodies are our friend for testing. Dr. Zania Stamataki in viral immunology from the University of Birmingham tells us that there are two types of the test. One test is a PCR test that tells you if you currently have the virus. The other test is a serology test that asks if you have made antibodies against the virus.

IgM antibodies are detectable early in the infection of COVID. IgG antibodies will show up after them. Since this is a new disease for the whole world, no one had the antibodies for it if you have not been infected. We don’t even know for sure if the antibodies you get after having it will ensure you will not be re-infected. IgM could possibly be in the blood one day after infection, but it will not be enough for a reliable test. Because of this, the best test will be combining the antibody test and the PCR test. This will give them a 98.6% detection rate within the first 5 days of infection. If they detect for both IgM and IgG that means they are within the first month of infection and hopefully, not get re infected.