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Anti-body test results - what is going on?

7 replies

Skyisbluetoday · 09/10/2020 14:09

Please help me work this out. I work in the NHS (none clinical) and we were offered free anti-body blood tests around May I think. My manager and a colleague tested positive for having had the virus. Manager had horrendous cough in January that went on for weeks. Obviously not COVID as we are being told not circulating freely in the UK (London) at the time - but makes us wonder.... Other colleague who tested positive had loss of taste and smell symptoms in March - before this was an official symptom. Neither were actually tested at the time of showing symptoms as testing was not available at the time. Kept on working throughout and shared small office with two others, but not each other. Window shut as cold outside. Neither took any time off during period between March and antibody bloodtest and both continued to work from the office. If the virus is so infectious, why have the people who shared a small office not caught it or could it be that they did but were asymptomatic? Would they therefore not have developed antibodies? I'm really still puzzled by this result.

OP posts:
Wildswim · 09/10/2020 14:11

You've all had it

80 percent of people who get it are asymptomatic.

Angel2702 · 09/10/2020 14:12

There is only around 50 % infection rate between spouses living together so it doesn’t surprise me.

greensnail · 09/10/2020 14:14

Some people have it and don't develop antibodies - I know people who have been unwell and tested positive for covid, who then had negative antibodies test.

fishywaters · 09/10/2020 14:18

I have assumed for a long time that the actual antibody tests that are being used just don’t pick up a significant portion of people who have indeed had coronavirus, perhaps asymptomatically/low symptoms/ different immune response. Just as the current Covid tests (pcr) are sometimes false positives and or picking up historic infections. But we have to go with available tests and listen to the opinions of the scientists - what other choice do we have.

2020changedtheworld · 09/10/2020 14:18

i have been told by an Occupational Health Doctor, the antibody test is of very little diagnostic significance.

Also, some people never develop them, some at a later stage, some lose them after a couple of months and some have them straight away & keep them.

Its not worth trying to figure it out.

QueenStromba · 09/10/2020 16:33
  1. the tests aren't very sensitive
  2. most people aren't very infectious - most spread is by super spreaders.
JeanClaudeVanDammit · 09/10/2020 16:49

Most people don’t infect anyone. A small number of people infect lots of people.

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