Antibody tests - had one and it's negative and I now feel really upset

[FacingMyWaterloo]

I know this might sound ridiculous and I'm partially posting for you all to slap me round the face with a wet fish...

I work in central London and have a train/tube plus bus or walk commute. I'm defined as a key worker and though I have been able to do some work at home, I've also still had to go in, on and off.

In the middle of March, I had the coronavirus symptoms. 3 days after I came down with them, my partner (who is asthmatic, and works from home anyway) got the same symptoms as me but worse.

I need to do more work in town v soon so thought for peace of mind, we would have a private antibody test. We were absolutely convinced we had had it. His has come back positive and mine is negative and I feel totally devastated. I actually wish we hadn't had them done now. I did read there is more chance of a false negative and there are some people whose antibody levels don't pick up enough to test anyway.

Please talk some sense in me because for some reason I feel utterly miserable about it. Dp is of course delighted and now feels invincible yet he's the one who gets to stay at home anyway!

Its No 72, so I guess its just for post, but why not just use a P.O Box?

Or do they have to give an address to get through loopholes?

is not the whole point about why the government is not doing them ? Even china have said some people don't have antibodies even after a positive test? And also the tests are not all accurate.

That's the media for you - moaning because we are not testing and then on the same day printing articles about there not being antibodies anyway .

Not sure why anyone would want one when you can get covid 19 again. That and you’re throwing away money to a “clinic” that’s a scam.

Its No 72, so I guess its just for post, but why not just use a P.O Box?

For a lot of people, having a physical address can be reassuring.

We already know there's no evidence that virus recovery gives immunity.
I wonder why this is being reported a new information from the WHO?

Work offered to pay so luckily didn't waste my money

There are loads of places (in London) doing them. I did see there are a few places taking blood too (which I imagine would potentially be more accurate!). Yes, I saw that some people don't develop antibodies/their levels are too low for rapid tests - I guess there's a lot they don't know still

The WHO have stated that there is “no evidence” that the antibodies produced following recovery from COVID stop people being infected again. In January the WHO said that there was “no evidence” of human to human transmission of coronavirus. That subsequently changed when new evidence emerged.

No evidence means just that, it doesn’t mean that immunity is impossible or unlikely.

That said, because there are so many unknowns at the moment, I wouldn’t worry about the test OP. Chris Whitty has been pretty clear that they haven’t found a test that they are satisfied with yet for diagnostic purposes (although they are hopeful of having one soon) so there is every possibility the test was wrong.

@slartibarti

I believe it is to warn against governments seeking to introduce “immunity passports”.

www.nature.com/articles/nm.3985 2015 medical research article in Nature by the Wuhan lab and US scientists. A SARs-Covid chimeric virus is created, it attacks lung cells and it seems from the article they found no/few antibodies, vaccine or treatment success in their research

There is a test called vivadiag rapid test that is being administered by some private clinics. You can look up the manufacturers information regarding accuracy
Sounds like you've fallen for purchased one of these yourself going by your dogged defence. Awkward 🤣

You can look up the manufacturers information regarding accuracy

I'm more interested in non manufacturers info but I can't actually find any that is positive

@petalseaside

But a strong immune response has been found in large numbers of those who have recovered from COVID. The question is do those antibodies provide protection from reinfection and if so for how long.

The immune response to other coronaviruses in humans is know to be fairly short (but it is there).

Maybe a HCP can confirm, but I distinctly remember one of the medical people saying that it took 28 days for the antibodies to be identified in the bloodstream

I think one of the problems with tests is that accuracy depends on various factors, e.g positive result may be more accurate than negative, and accuracy will vary depending on how long before the test was carried out that you were infected.

If infection doesn’t bring with it some degree of immunity, or if the virus mutates sufficiently quickly to make a vaccine ineffective, it’s going to be a bit of a worry.

There isn’t a reliable antibody test so you’ve been fleeced unfortunately. It’s also illegal to sell them In the UK.

It is not true. There are no accurate antibody home testing kits that can be rolled out at a mass scale but there are reasonably accurate tests that require in person presence.

If you have attended the place that I am thinking of in Central London, they actually mention on their website that their tests are 86% accurate. They are not supposed to give false positive results but they produce 14% of false negatives. Young people with mild symptoms are more likely to fall into the false negative category.

Fergal Walsh was positive after having the test as part of a BBC news feature. He has never had the illness as far as he knew. Though his job has likely to have put him at risk.

I wouldn't stop wearing PPE at work or washing hands frequently even if I had a positive test result.

I had no idea you could get a private antibody test in U.K.

@ CJsGoldfish you clearly missed the part where I said I couldn’t afford it, I don’t tend to frequent private clinics!

Anyway, I don’t have any reason to think I’ve been infected so it would be a complete waste of money to just do one on the off chance!

I had heard that antibody tests for Covid-19 were unreliable {on radio LBC} so don't worry too much. I understand how you feel....I had a really bad sore throat and a 'urgh' feeling...but it didn't develop..I wish it had been Covid-19, but now think it unlikely as we live in an area currently with 'low' rates of active cases compared to elsewhere. {West of England}

They say the test is 95% accurate

Well they would wouldn't they? Its not a free service.

Every country is desperate for an accurate antibody test, as yet there isn't one. Unless you think all of them are united in ignoring a reliable test.

95% accurate still means one in every 20 tests is wrong

People are falling for spurious medical claims, left right and centre here.

There really really really is not a reliable antibody test available with a proven rate of effectiveness.

In addition we are still learning about how antibodies may or may not be produced by different people, at different times.

If you stick to reading peer reviewed medical literature you will see that this is the case.

Just because a clinic has a shiny website, lovely location and extortionate prices does not make them reliable. We all accept this within certain fields such a fertility treatment, but for some reason not in this case. Read the small print.

Why did your work think it was a good idea?

Or rather why are they paying?

Hopefully we can agree that if anyone is interested in finding out more about testing they are better off talking to a qualified doctor first rather than listening to a bunch of anonymous randoms spout off on the internet!

A Harley Street address is no guarantee of anything! A friend went to a "clinic" to have a Dr Pimple Popper type of procedure. It was more like two very small rooms in a sixties office block rather than what you might hope a Harley street clinic should be like in one of those gorgeous Georgian buildings. There was a smear of blood on the wall next to the couch which my friend pointed out, neither the doctor nor the assistant seemed too bothered. She wished she had gone to see my dermatologist afterwards, but he has a proper clinic, and charges three times the price.

No one knows if the Covid 19 virus produces antibodies which would a) prove you had had it and b) protect you from a later attack .

Sounds like the sort of place where not a doctor really Dr Trump gets his advice.

Probably because I was worried. And I'm a key worker who needs to be present at work regularly though not NHS - so when I did have the symptoms in March, I wasn't able to access a test to say whether I had it or not. It would put my mind at ease I suppose. I'm less worried for myself and more about bringing it home and infecting others.

There are still a lot of people out and about going to work and I do think London transport is utterly filthy and like germ harbouring pods!

I feel better now though thank you all.