ANTIBODY TESTING

Discussing the importance anti-body testing provides - in the fight against covid-19.... unlike the nasal swab test - anti- body tests use a small sample of blood usually taken by a prick of the finger.... the test can not tell if you currently have covid-19*but it can reveal if you've been infected by the virus in the past -*and if your immune system developed a response to it.... there are more than 100 different anti-body tests out there - and their accuracy can be broad.... the industry standard*at least 95 percent.... vetter says: "it's important to us in public health because when that test is used over a wide population of people, it can give us an idea of how many people in a community or in a neighborhood or in a city have been infected by the virus."

Most people will not have a good anti- body response for two to three weeks after their symptoms go away - so getting a test before then*could produce a false negative.... however - just because someone has anti-bodies does not mean they are immune.... and if they are - there is no telling how long that immunity