Where to purchase antibody testing?

[CherryStoneTree]

I know there have a been a few threads about people having bought the testing kits, I’m just wondering where you bought them from so I can do one?

Happy to be messaged if people aren’t comfortable.

I know they are not accurate completely, and I understand the statistics. We will repeat it once a month and comply with all NHS testing etc. For our current situation the cost is worth it. We bought ones from the private barely street guy but they didn’t turn up, twice and we were refunded.

@Selfsettling3 thanks, without going into my exact health circumstances, for us knowing helps, knowledge is power and all that. A negative/positive result isn’t going to change things but it will help. And until they have proved immunity in erring one the side that you can get it twice.

@Orangeblossom78 thanks I’ll have a read.

I agree with what @firstmentat said, there is a huge difference between an expensive accurate private result, and a cheap mass produced NHS one that is accurate. You get what you pay for and the NHS aren’t going to pay £99 per test like private. They are going to keep testing the 20p kits until they find one that works.

Thanks @Egghead68, the vials are usually 4/5mls.
@Truzza that’s good that they’ve started!

Blue Horizon say:

“Typically, we will need 15-18 drops of blood for your home blood test. This equates to around 800 microlitres, or 0.8 millilitres. Visually, this is about 1/8 of a teaspoon – so not very much at all.”

So in fact a lot less than a vial

I couldn't see the Blue Horizon one mentioned in the article. It says it is very accurate in the ad though. I ordered one them cancelled it as I remembered I found it very hard to draw blood for those types of test in the past.

@OrangeBlossom78 @Egghead68 posting a link to the blue horizon one, I think I might get that one. What it says about lab testing over the more controversial pregnancy test type reading ones is what I’m looking for. Well it makes sense that the NHS aren’t going to pay for that much. And it seems about right, I’ve paid for private home blood tests before and they’re cheaper than that.

Sorry, you meant the Abbott test wasn’t mentioned in the guardian report! Sorry!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3900355-i-have-gone-nuts-and-paid-someone-to-come-to-my-house-and-do-an-antibody-test-on-us

Okay, so the first one I linked to as well is also the Abbott test as well as the blue horizon one. Same price and same test. Would be nice to order one that someone else has used, company wise.

Thanks, when I started this thread no one on the other thread was actually naming their companies where they ordered from in case people thought they were advertising.

Blue horizon has 3 negative reviews on trust pilot Out of 3 as the kits not turning up.

That is not good. My kit has turned up. I will report back when I’ve used it and had the results. N.b. I am not advertising or recommending in any way!

Blue horizon has 3 negative reviews on trust pilot Out of 3 as the kits not turning up.

Oh crap. I ordered one, but paid by PayPal so sure I will get my money back if it doesn’t arrive.

A family member ordered from Blue Horizon and it came in a day or two, was sent back on Thursday or Friday last week and no result yet. They chased it up this afternoon and were told someone would call them tomorrow.

I’m not a scientist but I would have thought that if antibodies didn’t give you immunity then we would have some, or even one, case of people getting it twice, especially among NHS workers?

I got my results today- negative. Out of 6 of us working closely together only one was positive.

I’ve not known anyone who’s tested positive even though clinically, 4 or 5 people I know have had it (or an identical disease to this highly infectious pandemic disease in the middle of the pandemic, while they were working in a hospital with a high number of known cases ),

@DuchessMinnie which company did you use?
I’m guessing with trust pilot people only tend to leave negatives. I’ve just seen medichecks are doing a cheaper antibody test. I’ve used them lots on the past for at home blood tests and trust them, should have stuck with that one.

@CherryStoneTree mine was through the Trust where I work. They are doing a long-term (6 years) study and are doing tests for staff.

The antibody or the swab for active infection? I’ve known 4 people all test negative on the swab who you’d put money on having it, knowing their jobs.

@CherryStoneTree the antibody testing. I would have put money on us all being positive. We have zero chance of maintaining social distancing and we have definitely been in contact with positive people. On the one hand it's good to know that we have protected ourselves well, on the other hand unfortunately it means we may still get it.

I've used bluehorizon a lot for other tests and they've always been a good company - quick, reliable, good customer feedback. They're not a recent set up to exploit cv test demand

I don't know anything about the cv antibody test they sell though, sorry

There is not currently a validated antibody test. The tests are available but their reliability has not been demonstrated. I don't have specific information but, given the benefits a reliable test would provide, I would say it's almost certain that they're currently being validated so it's probably best to wait until a certified test is available.

What is the point if the test isn't reliable?

Each one is different and some are more accurate than others -there are more than a dozen brands. Elisa tests are most accurate. Blue Horizon does an Elisa year but they're very vague about details. They say the test is by Elisa but that's a type of test, according to the Guardian-not the name of the brand. So I think there's insufficient transparency about the accuracy of it, or any review material. I think if it was good they'd surely say?