Do I have the virus or am I immune to corona after infection? Many people want to know that at the moment. A current, contagious disease can be detected using a so-called PCR test from a nasopharyngeal smear.
Fürstenfeldbruck - Antibody tests for SARS-CoV-2 can also be bought or carried out on the Internet, in some pharmacies and also from medical colleagues. But doctors warn of reliability.
In the antibody test, antibodies against pathogens that the patient has formed after an infection are determined in the blood serum. In the Fürstenfeldbruck district, screening tests were carried out on various groups of people using antibody screening tests, Dr. Andreas Forster, Chairman of the Medical Association, and Dr. Florian Weis, medical director of the clinic. The World Health Organization and the Centers of Disease Control emphasize that antibody testing outside of clinical trials conducted by universities or health authorities is not useful.
Not meaningful
The reasons: The current antibody tests are not clearly meaningful for the individual patient. Because they could not differentiate between the long-known and harmless "cold corona viruses" and SARS-CoV-2. A positive result of these currently available tests does not mean immunity to COVID-19. A negative result does not rule out an existing, contagious disease with the SARS-CoV-2, because the measurability of the antibodies lags behind the actual disease. In the worst case, antibody testing weighs individual patients in a false sense of security and thus increases the risk of infection for the test person and his fellow human beings.
The testing in the context of studies serves to gain information about the test and epidemiological phenomena, the doctors emphasize. The significance of the new Roche antibody test test cannot yet be estimated. For this reason, they do not recommend using the currently available tests outside of official studies. People with cold symptoms should contact their family doctor. imu
