Antibody testing isn't a silver bullet. We still have to social distance, experts say. “Physicians and the general public should not use antibody testing to consider anyone immune to the disease,” said the American Medical Association president.
As coronavirus antibody testing becomes increasingly available to the public, it’s worth understanding what these tests do and don’t reveal — and how to interpret their results.
“ The FDA issued stricter guidance for commercial antibody tests after it saw ‘unscrupulous actors.’ ” American Medical Association president Patrice Harris issued a statement to that effect last week, warning that “physicians and the general public should not use antibody testing to consider anyone immune to the disease,” as “doing so may lead individuals to falsely assume they can stop physical distancing and further the spread of illness.”
Daniel Leung, an infectious disease physician-researcher at University of Utah Health, recommended leaving it up to public-health and medical practitioners to initiate serological testing. “I know people are trying to take their health in their own hands,” he said, “but I don’t think a serology test is the right way to do it.”
“ ‘What we don’t know yet is whether the antibodies evoked by COVID-19 actually indicate protection.’ ” Tests’ specificity and sensitivity can vary, Leung said. The predictive value of a test depends on both the test’s performance and on the prevalence of people who have been infected in the population, he added.
“Some people will say, ‘Well, if I don’t know that for sure, how can I rely on this?’” Schaffner said. “Cut everyone some slack. Science takes time. This is a new virus.”
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