To ask if anyone has had an antibody test?

[Lex345]

I work in social care and managed an outbreak during the first wave. I was pretty unwell in March-not poorly enough to need hospital but I am 99% sure it was COVID. DH and DC also unwell at the time, but no testing was available for mild cases then. Since March, I have repeated and prolonged contact with people with confirmed COVID, personally performed swabs on all suspected cases and pillar 2 testing (which have thrown up asymptomatic positives). I am obviously fastidious with hand hygiene and always had access to the recommended PPE (but the FRSMs not N95 or FFP3s, aprons not full gowns). I live in a high incidence area, where the rates have remained high, even during summer. We have stuck to the strictest rules socialising rules apart from work and school, from September. I have had to go food shopping, always wearing a mask, cleaning trolley handles and gelling hands. Always wash hands on return.

All 3 of my children have had contact with confirmed cases (and therefore had to isolate) multiple times since returning to school, have not developed symptoms. I most recently worked in a home at the start of an outbreak where a significant number of staff and residents were infected from one staff member on the same day.

Neither DH, DC nor myself have ever received a positive swab result. I have just had my antibody test results, which was negative for antibodies.

My question-has anyone else had repeated contact with COVID and either not contracted it-or think they had it early on-and returned a negative antibody test result? I am swabbed every single week for COVID. Is it possible to have T Cell immunity (and no antibodies) or immunity from sone other disease in the past?

Or have I just been terribly lucky?

I tested for antibodies in June before DH returned to work and we both were negative. We all caught covid in October but very mild with none of the classic 3 symptoms - we only found out through private tests. Haven’t tested for antibodies since.

I am curious about what happened. I was very unwell in January after returning from Asia before we knew anything about covid. Never been that unwell in my life and had the flu shot last year. I don’t know if we caught it twice.. I’m guessing the most reasonable explanation is we only had it once in October and hopefully have some immunity now, but it’s very unclear.

I had something in March which ticked evry box of the symptom list plus some really weird extras ( pain in legs at night, reflux) this was before testing was available but then 2 months later I got chosen for the antibody test which was negative.
I have since been in close contact with someone who had a positive covid test( which they neglected to tell me at the time) and 3 weeks on im still well.
Its confusing.

Im a bit disappointed to be going into this second wave without antibodies. I think I was clinging to some hope there!

I’d love one but can’t justify the cost and as a teacher I’m not being offered an NHS one.

Pretty sure we had it in March too. My toddler DS was hospitalised with a viral respiratory illness, he needed oxygen and a nebuliser all night because he was struggling to breathe. The hospital staff and paramedics didn’t have PPE which looking back is just crazy, they also wouldn’t test DS unless he was admitted to the ward which they decided against. Then a week later my older DC had a mild cough and I had a bad cough with no other symptoms. It was just a constant dry cough, I couldn’t stop coughing for days and had to sleep sitting upright.

99% certain that was covid but without the antibody test we’ll never know.

Mine was only £39 with Testing For All (found them on here after saying I'd put it off until it was mentioned on here due to cost as they had all been over £100 that I'd seen!)

However it seems from this thread you could test like me and still have a negative antibody test so may not be worth it. I wish I'd been able to afford testing in June!

I got ill mid March before lockdown before it really got serious. I knew I had it straight away as I felt completely different to all other times I had been ill. I didn’t go to hospital I just isolated for 14 days.

I had an antibody test In late October and was positive for antibodies. So I still had antibodies for over 7 months.

Btw I’m a 30 year old female. Interestingly my DH didn’t catch it off me, he doesn’t have the antibodies and wasn’t ill. But we spent most of our time within 1meter of each other!

I do think a lot of people are looking back and because they had a bit of a cough or were ill, they think they have had it. Obviously there will be some who have had it but I think most haven’t. Everyone who I speak to thinks they have had it, that just doesn’t add up. Also why didn’t they say at the time. I knew I had it straight away coz of how I felt. I think most people (with some exceptions) would have known at the time of getting ill not months later.

I think I’m a bit annoyed because when I got ill in March no one believed me that I had Covid because it wasn’t confirmed. But it wasn’t possible to get it confirmed unless you went to hospital.

Now I can finally show people I have the antibodies and all of a sudden everyone I speak to thinks they have had it because they had a cough but weren’t actually ill or had most of the other 11 symptoms.

I also think I had it in March. On mothers day. It was the worse feeling ever. Funnily enough I have just ordered a Anti body test!

@XjustagirlX I think you're forgetting how hard it was to get tested or even help. I was v ill for me last 2 weeks of March and couldn't get seen. I started off with tiny cough but then couldnt breathe well/felt like an elephant was sat on my chest. I couldn't see anyone as Drs wouldn't
see people then. They couldnt prescrivlbe steroids for my asthma as at that time they worried if it was covid it might interfere. My asthma nurse thought it was covid. I was following along the 2 weeks progress others had charted, at the time convinced that by the end of 2 weeks I would be on a ventilator as we knew it progressed quickly and each night telling my husband stuff about looking after the kids.

Any other time of my life I'd be in AnE feeling like I did. It was when 111 only wanted you to go anywhere if you thought you were actually dying. I had a bag packed. I have an oxymeter and was watching my oxygen didn't drop much (my peak flow did.).

In my case the asthma nurse thought it was covid, but without checks it could have been asthma that they were unable to trest normally, so leaving me breathless, plus anxiety? Hence why I wanted to know. I'm sure Im not the only one. Remember people were only admitted to hospital if breathing was getting incredibly difficult. And testing wasnt done routinely.

Also lots of people will have had it. In my small area alone 19 people have in the last week. Its getting increasingly likely that someone you know has had it. My kids schools have both been shut for mild cases. The ones I'm aware of locally didn't even reslise they had it!

I had it as a research volunteer months ago and I was negative

I think the latest government information was that antibody testing has shown that for the majority ‘immunity’ doesn’t seem to last more than a few months. That said my friend was quite ill in March just before lockdown with covid type symptoms but they weren’t testing everyone then so she just isolated herself, she had an antibody test two weeks ago and got a positive result so hers have lasted a good 8 months.

Thanks Glittery that's realky helpful.

So all I know is I don't have antibodies now. I could have had covid in March but I wont know and either way Im susceptible now.

My health isn't great anyway

A friend of mine had full blown symptoms, cough, tempetature, taste and smell gone in late March / early April. Negative antibody test around June/July 🤷‍♀️

@PineappleUpsideDownCake not at all. I’m not talking about people like you who clearly were incredibly unwell. You actually had very similar symptoms to me and I was also ill mid March.

Im not forgetting how hard it was to get a test or help. I was in the same situation as you, feeling incredibly ill but testing was just not available. I said in my post that it was really difficult for people who were genuinely ill early on to get a test coz I was one of them.

I’m talking about people who had a bit of a cough who now seem to think they definitely had it. Or the people who have been around someone who has had a confirmed case and now think they must definitely have had it.

@PineappleUpsideDownCake It does sound like you had Covid based on your symptoms and I think maybe the antibodies stay in different people for different lengths of times. For me they have stayed for at least 7 months.

I understand it’s frustrating.

I either had classic Covid in February or something that mimics it exactly. I'm pretty sure it was too early for Covid (only just getting reports about it in Wuhan, just at beginning of spread). Headache. Mild fever. Body aches. Persistent dry cough. A few days of nasty breathlessness (extremely unusual for me). Then complete loss of smell for 3 weeks.

Im going through the national testing survey and there are actually 12 symptoms for Covid.

I think people focus on the cough and the temperature. So if they had those then they feel they must have had it but there is always some sort of cough going around. But now people se more aware of it.

For me the main symptoms which made me think I had it was I couldn’t swallow as my throat had swollen up so much, I couldn’t breathe or walk upright and I was going hot and cold.

You don't have to have detectable antibodies to be immune, I thought?

I was very, very ill with covid in March. It was just at the beginning of the pandemic so I wasn't hospitalized, although I should have been (not in the U.K.). Three weeks ago I tested positive for antibodies.

I'm being sent one by the government s I registered for a postal antibody test months ago and 2 days ago they texted me saying I had been selected for one. I hope I have antibodies as I work as a nurse in a covid area and I did have a horrible cough/ cold thing in March