Just had positive antibody test!

[Ilikewinter]

Wow oh friggin wow!
I work in healthcare so put my name forward for an antibody test, but was 100% sure I've not had Covid.
Ive worked all the way through and stuck to all rules, social distancing, mask wearing etc etc. Ive been doing twice weekly testing via work, since early Jan and all results negative. At no point have I been ill or even had a whiff of a cold since last March. I live with DH and hes been WFH since March, hes also not been ill.
So I do the test and just received an email to say its positive for antibodies therefore Ive had Covid. Says antibodies can last 6-8 months (they think) so ive had it at some point after summer.
Im genuinely shocked - relieved that I wasnt ill with it, but now desperate to know when I had it!

I’m quite interested in whether science can identify what makes some people asymptomatic. I’m viewing you as an interesting specimen!

Have you not had your vaccine yet?

I had the 1st vaccine about 4 weeks ago, I wondered if that throws up antibodies but apparently not. When you fill out the antibody form it asks about the vaccine and if you've had one or both doses and when.

I thought the antibody tests were not accurate at an individual level? Therefore even if you've tested positive it might not mean you've had Covid.

I've taken the antibody tests before and I was always told I shouldn't take the tests as definite.

@Lockheart I thought they were unreliable for negatives (and then you get into the whole t-cell debate because that’s not where they’re looking). I though positive antibodies were reliable because they’ll either be there or not at all.

According to the NHS website the error rate is 1% .
I have no idea scientifically how they work!.
I'd love DH to be tested just to see if hes also been asymptomatic or if hes avoided it altogether.
I do find it fascinating how it affects people so differently.

@Lockheart

I thought the antibody tests were not accurate at an individual level? Therefore even if you've tested positive it might not mean you've had Covid.

I've taken the antibody tests before and I was always told I shouldn't take the tests as definite.

Pretty sure vaccines do cause you to make antibodies... that’s kind of the point?

One of the early reports from the Oxford trials was that the vaccine “produced an immune response”, I.e. antibodies, maybe T-cells as well.

Apologies, that was intended to quote OP saying that vaccines don’t throw up antibodies.

I didnt mean that vaccines dont give antibodies, ive copied this from NHS website, again I don't understand how the tests work but it says that the vaccine wont give a positive test result......

If you’ve had the COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccines teach your immune system how to create antibodies. But these are different to the ones the antibody test checks for to tell you if you’ve had the virus before. If you’ve had the vaccine, you may be asked to take a different test to check your response to it.
TheCOVID-19 vaccinewill not affect the result of your antibody test.

I had covid in December (lost my taste so I’m certain it wasn’t a false positive or anything) & I had a negative antibody test last week 😫 no idea whether to think the antibody test wasn’t accurate or I used my TCells!

We were offered free tests through work. I thought I had had it last March as although I wasn't unwell, I had a mild cough for a day then lost my sense of smell almost entirely overnight.
I was positive for antibodies , so that's ten months plus

@Ilikewinter

I didnt mean that vaccines dont give antibodies, ive copied this from NHS website, again I don't understand how the tests work but it says that the vaccine wont give a positive test result......

If you’ve had the COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccines teach your immune system how to create antibodies. But these are different to the ones the antibody test checks for to tell you if you’ve had the virus before. If you’ve had the vaccine, you may be asked to take a different test to check your response to it.
TheCOVID-19 vaccinewill not affect the result of your antibody test.

Ah, that rings a bell. I heard something similar the other day - some YouTube channel - saying there was a different test for the antibodies you get from infection versus vaccination. Apologies.

Similar thing here OP, had a positive antibody test last month but have never had Covid to my knowledge- always tested negative even after close contact with positive cases.

Last time I had any type of illness was Oct/Nov 2019- a weird cold/flu type thing with a terrible cough that lasted about 6 weeks!

It will be the vaccine! All my colleagues are doing antibody tests and we've all tested positive 2-3 weeks after being vaccinated.

I'm pretty sure that the NHS page you're referring to is about the at-home antibody tests, not the ones done as part of the health care workers research project.

Some of the antibody tests test for antibodies to the n protein. Antibodies raised by the vaccine would be to the spike protein. I think it depends which antibody test you had as to whether it would pick up vaccine antibodies.
If you work in healthcare you’d hope it wasn’t a test which would pick up vaccine antibodies as most staff should have had vaccine.

Also I've not had the vaccine yet.

OP, 'testing for all' do relatively cheap antibody tests, we got my DH tested through there as I had covid last year and he remained well, we were curious if he had had it asymptomatically. He was negative though. You are right that the vaccine isn't meant to affect the results, the antibodies created by the vaccine are different as they aren't a live vaccine, they only contain the spike protein. The antibodies are in relation to that part of the virus just. The antibody tests look for the actual full covid antibodies which are only created aftern natural exposure. Dreadful explanation, I know!

Also, I remember when I signed up to the study that you couldn't take part if you were in a vaccine trial because it would reveal whether you'd had the vaccine or placebo.

My husband was asked to participate in an anti bodies test study a few weeks ago. It was a finger prick test and the result was positive, showing long term antibodies in his blood. He has not had a vaccine yet as 58. I am not surprised as all our family have had Covid, with various degrees of illness
( not serious thankfully).

Probably because you’ve had the vaccine tbh.

The antibody test on offer at our NHS trust gives the outcome ‘Detected’ for antibodies whether from exposure or vaccine.

Once you have had the vaccine you should get Detected whether you have natural antibodies or not.

Behind the scenes though the data could reveal if natural and or vaccine antibodies depending on the technology used. This is for study purposes and for some reason does not come out in the text message result.

I’d love an antibody test that shows you’ve responded to the vaccine, I’m asplenic and they don’t know if we’ll produce enough reaction to be protected but we’re also being told there’s no way to tell as the antibody tests wouldn’t pick up the vaccine response.

By page 10 will people still be saying 'because you have had the vaccine'? cancel the cheque

I work in the NHS too and had a positive antibody test.
I'm 60 and in poor health yet had no symptoms whatsoever. I haven't been ill with any virus type thing or covid symptoms for 2 years.
Quite scary to think I was swanning about with covid and no idea i had it.