Antibody test approved in the UK!

[Biscuit0110]

Fantastic news to wake up to this morning.

The antibody test has been approved in the UK, it is a 100% accurate and will be rolled out 'within weeks'.

This will be a game changer for the whole country, I can not wait to have one (very ill in February) will you be taking one?
Is this how we are going to get back on track? Combine with the track and trace app and we may just have a coherent science based route back to normality.

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-new-100-accurate-covid-19-antibody-test-approved-for-use-in-uk-11987924

How is it different from the Abbott one please? I know it can be taken at home.

Each one will use different targets to distinguish between antibodies which act against the virus and those that don't. The different targets could produce different sensitivities and specificities.

Ok thanks, and it is not a home test does that mean going to a test centre I suppose for a blood test?

I thought the BCG thing was discredited

Currently, only the Roche test has been demonstrated to be both sensitive (produces negligible false negatives) and specific (produces negligible false positives) to the antibodies raised in response to the virus. For those worried that they're currently infected, the currently available PCR test is fine to use, in fact, it's even more sensitive and specific but it only tests for the presence of the virus, not antibody production in response to past exposure.

@Orangeblossom78 was it?
That's a shame.

It's hard to keep up

is not a home test does that mean going to a test centre I suppose for a blood test

This is not currently clear. It definitely can't be performed at home like a pregnancy test, the press releases haven't specified whether a capillary blood sample (finger prick) which might be possible to collect at home or a venous blood (blood bottle from the arm) sample is required.

I would be interested to take this test as I think I may have had the virus but had minimal symptoms.

However, I understood that the jury was still firmly out with regards to the degree of immunity you would have, and the longevity of any immunity.

If you can get it again within a year, just as bad, or worse than initial bout, then it's not really of much value at a personal level. It would be like a test confirming you had had the flu.

@Gronky The Roche test requires a HCP to take blood which is then sent off for testing.

Sorry, just to update, I grabbed a copy of the factsheet, they need serum which means a professional performing a standard blood collection. However, other card based systems that are designed for capillary blood are developed and will almost certainly be being validated at the moment (it will just take longer)

Thank you, bluebeck. I'd done antibody tests before based on capillary blood in mixed phase strip as well as solution sandwich ELISA but some products only let you use venous while others are happy with both.

This is the press release from Roche about it receiving FDA authorisation for the test www.roche.com/media/releases/med-cor-2020-05-03.htm. It says:

Roche’s SARS-CoV2 antibody test, which has a specificity greater than 99.8% and 100% sensitivity (14 Days post-PCR confirmation), can help assess patients’ immune response to the virus. As more is understood about immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the test may help to assess who has built up immunity to the virus.

Sensitivity measures how often a test correctly generates a positive result for people who have the condition that’s being tested for; Specificity measures a test’s ability to correctly generate a negative result for people who don’t have the condition that’s being tested for

Be aware that as these tests have been brought to market really quickly they haven't undergone the clinical trials normally required so these figures may not be 100% accurate, but they have been thoroughly reviewed by the FDA and tests are being checked by country authorities such as Public Health England.

Once there's home testing we'll try it, but I expect it'll be negative. We all had a rotten cough in February but not the other symptoms and DH brought home gastric flu recently but no other symptoms, so it's unlikely.

Will it be expensive I wonder.

LadyofTheManners

I'd not heard that.

I'd like the test as just before lockdown I was in a shop and one of the other customers had just come back from Scotland and said he'd been in the area wher ether were the first few cases.

I think I had the opposite of the placebo effect, although I did have a high temp for a couple of weeks, 38 - 40.1 but I didn't feel particularly unwell.

Then I have chronic health problems so maybe my normal is what other people feel when they are a bit under the weather.

Although I'd like the test I think I will be last in line, I don't go out much at hte best of times, I'm not working and the only person directly at risk from me is my carer.

He was also ill and I'd like to know his status, while we have beenon lockdown he hasn't been visiting as much as he usually would and he has had to use public transport.

Priority should be health care workers and carers in care homes, followed by residents in care homes, key workers, teachers, children due to return to school.

Another thing Chris Whitty discussed was creating 'rings' of vacination around certain people or areas.

I'd have the test.
I've had some strange symptoms and have been working with people with covid up until very recently (currently in isolation)
Bright red eye one day
Horrible upper back pain and chest pain that comes and goes
Ear popping sensations and dizziness
Wheezy
Low-grade temp for a week+
Tingling sensations
I'd love for lots of us to have 'had it' and for the mortality rate to be reviewed.

I will definitely be hoping to take one, though, as I'm still ill, it probably won't show immunity in my case. But my DD2 (8) had this for 4 days, I think, (high temperature, chest pain, bad headache and aches and pains. So if she were to test positive that would be all the confirmation I need in order to know that it was the cause of my symptoms, even if I don't have it now.

I just need to know whether I had COVID-19 or whether I need to worry whether I'm still potentially vulnerable to it?

I do wonder though, will they start with people who have had a positive CV test? I would think that was probable because they then know with 100% certainty they did and this if they do have antibodies it can all link up and lead to better treatment?

I know when I asked for a scan on my lungs before lockdown I was told no as despite them knowing of it by then, I had not had a positive test (not really my fault the lack of reporting properly at the time) I wasn't seen as a priority.

Orangeblossom78 The Abbott test has sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 99.5% so if you have already ordered one I wouldnt worry about cancelling. It could be a long time before the Roche one is available for home testing.

Natsku thank you for sharing that information about Finland - very interesting.
So I suppose they’d start testing those who were confirmed as ill and recovered first? Just to get a picture.
I read or listened to an interview maybe (God knows where or when) that severe infections would potentially create enough antibodies, weaker infections not so much. With the added complication that if a person who gets re-infected might not be able to cope with the second infection. I never found out anymore about this but I think it was for those with a less severe infection first time around. No idea what severe actually means on the basis that some people are infected without knowing it so they react differently to someone who might be equally but presents very serious symptoms.
And there is still great incertitude about how long would antibodies prevent re-infection.
I think an antibody test campaign would be a very, very useful tool in mapping out the situation at a certain point in time. I really like Boris but I have come to stop believing the government is achieving much at present making promises which don’t come to fruition with no excuses or explanations. So I’ll believe mass antibody testing will actually take place once it’s under way - a bit sceptical right now.
Personally, I wouldn’t rush to get one done. I would have done a month back and might change my mind in the future. Today, it would make zero difference to me personally. I would do it if I was included in some campaign but not out of personal curiosity or in the hope that having some immunity would make me invincible to the threat.

I just need to know whether I had COVID-19 or whether I need to worry whether I'm still potentially vulnerable to it?

Exactly!

It's just part of the story. If you compare to other Corona viruses like common cold, we know we could get it again, and that the next time might be less or more severe. We don't know how much immunity we would have or for how long....

Has anyone used a test from solo labs?

Thanks Kingkuta. I might try and go ahead with the Abbott one as in the post and then try getting the Roche one too just to confirm when it comes out. I struggle getting blood from a finger so will see how that goes. Really want to know because DH seems to have to go the shielding and I think we have already had it and it would like to know. From France in Feb

How is any antibody test a "Game changer" ?

So what if 10 or 20% have had CV? 80 or 90% wouldn't have and would still expect to have to isolate or stay alert!

i understand the benefit for healthcare systems but even if Roche can produce say 60m or even 100m tests per month, with 500m in europe and the UK out of the EU (and in EFTA EEA) how soon is any member of the public in the UK going to get it?

The antibody test once available will be under 10 pounds in the UK. The other test is available but it is 119 dollars.

£100 for the Abbot one.