Everyone is wondering when life will return to normal. But we have to be aware that there is so little that we know about the way this virus operates, and normal might not be anywhere in sight. We also don’t know how long immunity against this virus lasts, or when the next outbreak will hit. We cannot let our guard down and think that everything will be okay, and be ill-prepared for the next pandemic. The only thing we can do right now is remain cautious, and try our best to help others through this pandemic.
Antibody tests are being developed by many companies to test for if someone has had Covid-19 so that perhaps the world can be reopened. Those who have been infected will likely not be reinfected, and so they would be safe to go back to work. Most of these tests are looking for the presence of IgM and IgG, which would indicate an immune response. IgM is the antibody produced first during infection, while IgG is produced later on. IgG is more specific and is better at destroying antigens. Thus, those producing IgG will most likely not be reinfected, while those producing IgM will because IgM does not produce memory cells. With these tests, we would be able to tell if someone has been infected and how long antibodies against Covid-19 remain after recovery.
However, there have been problems with antibody testing. Since the FDA has removed regulations requiring their permission in order to use, many companies are pushing out faulty tests and claiming that they work in order to make a profit. This makes it harder to accurately test for the presence of antibodies in blood. Even if the tests are indeed accurate, there is always the issue of false positives and false negatives. A false positive indicates the presence of antibodies when there is none and false negatives indicates no antibodies when in fact the person has been infected. This makes it harder to determine who has gotten Covid-19 and recovered, and there also exists many other types of coronavirus that might give a false positive. Thus, we need to be cautious in proceeding forward and not be too confident that anything is over.
Fluffy Cows 