Confused by antibodies results

[FrozenCharlotte]

I'm in Scotland and work in education so was able to get an antibody test. To my surprise it came back positive.

After enjoying this happy news for a few days I now am confused by it.

I have been completely well the whole time but am aware that I lost my sense of smell at some point, perhaps in March. It's hard to pin point exactly when that was, but it was definitely before it was considered a symptom. And it was definitely before lockdown.

I have been working throughout, all through lockdown and most of the holidays too, so it's possible that I actually had it later than March but no one I know has had it.

Is it really possible that I could have had it back in March, not felt unwell at all, and still have antibodies now?

Sounds you you have had it and now have some degree of immunity. I don’t know if they really understand what that means though in terms of reinfection but has to be better than having no antibodies.
I also did the antbody test and was negative which I suspected but you always hope that you have some immunity. I dont know anyone I work with who had a positive result. I have signed up for the next test so will be interesting to see if there is any change given that we have been dealing with cases in school.

Did you travel anywhere Dec to March?

Yes my DH had mild symptoms for a couple of days in March, did antibody tests in July and this week- both positive.

yes it's possible that this has happened. Some people are asymptomatic

It could mean that you had it in March and then had a more recent exposure to which you mounted another immune response resulting in detectable antibody levels, as would usually happen with a virus.

@ScrapThatThen

Did you travel anywhere Dec to March?

No. Didn't travel anywhere but I did attend a large, crowded indoor event at the beginning of March in my home city. I think it's possible I picked it up there. Although none of the people I went with have had symptoms.

Yes

@kerosene20

Yes my DH had mild symptoms for a couple of days in March, did antibody tests in July and this week- both positive.

Interesting. Similar to me then. I would have thought that to still have antibodies 8 months after mild symptoms was a bit surprising but perhaps it's not unusual at all.

Yes, you either had it when you lost your sense of smell or later on with no symptoms.
Furthermore, some people who did test positive for the virus, are testing negative for antibodies later on. Which it does not mean they have lost their immunity by the way.
Regarding antibody or immunity testing, they still have lots of work to do, as the current tests are not giving a full picture yet.

@SufferingFromLongLockdown

It could mean that you had it in March and then had a more recent exposure to which you mounted another immune response resulting in detectable antibody levels, as would usually happen with a virus.

This is possible. When I said in my OP that I don't know anyone that has had it that was misleading. It would have been more accurate to say that I have not been in contact with anyone who has had it. We had a couple of cases at my place of work 2 months ago but they were not people I work with directly.

Just trying to make sense of it but I guess I'll never know. Lots of us at work have done the antibody test and mine is the only positive so far.

I would normally put myself in "never gets ill" category. Last had a day off sick in 2009 and never pick up what's going round the school.

It's good news for me, whatever the explanation , but I'll still be following the rules.