Specifically, a positive serology test for coronavirus would confirm the presence of specific antibodies, showing that the subject has been infected. The rapid tests for Covid-19, used to find IgM and IgG antibodies, can verify that a person has been infected, but it cannot confirm what is their current status.
Serology testing for SARS-CoV-2 is at increased demand in order to better quantify the number of cases of COVID-19, including those that may be asymptomatic or have recovered, and inform public health policies. If your blood contains antibodies that are specific to Covid-19, it means that your system has responded to its presence, thus you have been in contact with the virus. The immune system keeps you healthy by producing antibodies, particles that destroy foreign invaders, such as viruses, by attaching to the antigens and deactivating them. They all focus on proteins made by your immune system in response to an infection. Serology tests are blood-based tests that can be used to identify whether people have been exposed to a particular pathogen by looking at their immune response and identifying specific antibodies.
If you have been sneezing and can’t get tested through the official health centres, this test won’t help you either. This test is not useful for acute cases, such as patients who have developed symptoms, nor it can be used to rule out an infection. This type of test for coronavirus is currently available at some private labs and it can be done by anyone who requests it.
At the end of the emergency, if it will be very likely more useful to switch to a quantitative test, which measures the exact concentration of IgG in the blood. Amidst Coronavirus emergency, qualitative test is simpler, faster and allows to take the correct actions. Initially most labs use the qualitative one, which just informs about presence or absence of antibodies. There are 2 types of tests: qualitative and quantitative. The blood test for Covid-19 is used to identify a person who has been exposed to the virus and has developed specific antibodies. On January 8th, 2021, the Italian Ministry of Health has recognized the validity of the latest generation of rapid antigenic tests (immunofluorescence with microfluidic reading) which have shown results that are comparable to PCR swabs, especially if used within the first week of infection. The antigen swab test is faster than the PCR swab (15 – 30 minutes) and positive results are usually accurate, but negative results may need to be confirmed with a RT-PCR test. This test can be used on people who have signs of infection, and on those who have no symptoms at all. The PCR swab test transcribes and replicates RNA traces present in a biological sample, allowing to detect the virus even when the viral load is low. If you have flu-like symptoms or signs of a respiratory infection, these are the tests you need to get to diagnose if you have Covid-19 or not. This means these tests cannot detect whether a person was infected and then subsequently recovered. Both are performed on a nose/throat swab sample but one is a molecular test (detects virus’s genetic material) while the other is not (it only looks for particular virus proteins).īoth tests are used to detect the presence of an infection, and can only detect the virus during the infection. The so called “swab test”, may refer to a RT-PCR test looking for viral RNA (also called molecular test), or to a rapid antigenic swab.
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