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Posted 7/27/2020 3:54 PM (GMT -5)
A friend of mine tested negative for the Virus in early June.

Today at a routine doctor visit, getting results of various blood tests, they said he has antibodies of the Virus.

He never had a single symptom.

What does this mean? I assume it means he was exposed to the virus.

Can we assume he is now not contagious?

Can we assume he is not apt to develop symptoms in the near future?

Mel
Posted 7/27/2020 4:18 PM (GMT -5)
your assumption that he was exposed to virus at some point is correct to my knowledge...the other two assumptions...No one knows that answer to my knowledge
Posted 7/27/2020 4:19 PM (GMT -5)
Those are very good questions. Even assuming that his tests were accurate, with this virus, I'm not sure that anyone has solid answers.
Posted 7/27/2020 4:36 PM (GMT -5)

mattam said...
Those are very good questions. Even assuming that his tests were accurate, with this virus, I'm not sure that anyone has solid answers.

exactly why I didn't get the covid antibody test when I had my recent blood work. that and the test "probably" would have cost me between $40 and $100.
Posted 7/27/2020 4:45 PM (GMT -5)
There are many tests available for the antibodies. My understanding is that the one produced by Abbott Labs is the most accurate, and beyond that its the wild wild west. A friend of mine tested positive for the virus, completely asymptomatic, and 2 months later tested negative for the antibodies. So one of those tests was probably a false result.
If you have the antibodies, my understanding is that we still do not know how much immunity, if any, it provides, and for how long.
There was a news piece, on CNN a few days ago, where a Doctor was interviewed, i believe in Alabama. One of his patients had a mild case of the virus. A month or two later (I dont recall the exact time frame, but it wasnt long after he recovered) he had another case of the virus, and he died.. The Dr stated that it was not a relapse, but a new infection, not sure how he knew that, maybe there is a way to test.

This is all very scary stuff.
Posted 7/27/2020 6:06 PM (GMT -5)
Yes, as Prato indicated, antibody tests have a lot of question marks with them.
But even the covid-19 tests themselves occasionally have false positives. I had a neighbor with such a result. And a negative (covid-19) test can be due to improper sampling, a very low virus load at that point in time, etc.
Many questions with these tests, unfortunately.
My direct answer to Mel:
I don't think you can assume much of anything. No symptoms though is a great outcome.

Post Edited (Sr Sailor) : 7/27/2020 6:37:35 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/28/2020 8:45 AM (GMT -5)
My take is that this virus is like an iceberg. We know a lot about what is above the water and are learning much each day, but there is so much underwater that we simply don’t know. Answers to Mel’s original questions could take years to quantify and answer reliably.
Posted 7/28/2020 10:30 AM (GMT -5)
I would take a positive anti-body test with a grain of salt. Now, if he tested at least one more time with a different company's test, then maybe there'd be some validity to it. If we exposed to the virus, I think it's likely he would have some degree of immunity, but who really knows at this point.
Posted 7/28/2020 10:59 AM (GMT -5)

Reminds me of an old proverbial statement, that rhymes:


"We dance around the circle, and SUPPOSE ...

But the SECRET sits inside the circle, and KNOWS!"


CORONA ---- it's time to reveal your SECRETS ...

CYCLONE ~ # Iowa State University
Posted 7/28/2020 11:16 AM (GMT -5)
Based on just following the news:

As you all agree, antibodies show you were exposed.
Hopefully, this bestows some level of immunity.

Nobody seems to know how long this lasts, but it APPEARS that the antibodies don't stay around that long.

However, recent articles seem to suggest the surprising result that immunity is still present even after the antibodies are gone. It might be they are still there but not found on the tests.

All of the tests (viral and antibodies) seem to be somewhat suspect (questionable reliability).

That's what I gather, but who knows.?

Mel
Posted 7/28/2020 3:16 PM (GMT -5)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/health/coronvirus-antibody-tests.html

The article linked above, which appeared yesterday in the the New York Times, may shed some light on the question of Covid-19 antibodies.
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