What exactly is a coronavirus antibody test?
We all know the reason we've been living under lockdown rules for the last couple of months is to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, scientists have been working hard to develop a vaccine to stop it entirely, along with developing other tests to check who may have already been sick with Covid-19 (it's believed that some people will have caught it and only shown very mild symptoms, or even none at all).
It's likely that you'll have heard a lot of talk about an "antibody test" recently too (especially now that one has been officially approved for use by Public Health England), but you may not be fully clued up on what it exactly is and why it's so important in the fight against coronavirus. We've broken it down into handy bitesize chunks for you:
What does the coronavirus antibody test do?
Essentially, the newly approved antibody test, which was developed by a pharmaceutical team over in Switzerland and has been called a "game-changer" by Boris Johnson, can be used to check if people have been infected with coronavirus in the past. This is a big deal as previous attempts to develop such a test were deemed not reliable enough, however it's not a surefire way of knowing if somebody has immunity from coronavirus in future.
The national coordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme, Professor John Newton, said, "This is a very positive development because such a highly specific antibody test is a very reliable marker of past infection. This in turn may indicate some immunity to future infection, although the extent to which the presence of antibodies indicates immunity remains unclear."
How does an antibody test work?
It involves a quick blood test, which is then analysed for antibodies (antibodies are blood proteins which spring into action when a virus enters your body, and assists with fighting it off), to confirm whether or not a person has already caught the virus and may have some level of immunity against it.
What are antibodies?
Quite simply, antibodies (which are sometimes referred to as immunoglobulins) are Y-shaped proteins that your immune system makes to help prevent any nasty intruders (also called antigens, in this case COVID-19 in particular) from inflicting harm to your body.
When said nasty intruder appears in your body (and it doesn't always have to be a virus, it could be a chemical or bacteria), it's your immune system that jumps to attention and wages battle against it. Your immune system rather cleverly produces antibodies as a way of signposting your body towards destroying the antigen. Having traces of them in your system is a good indicator of whether or not you've had an infection, but it can't guarantee you won't catch it again.
Why is the antibody test important?
Although it's still early days, experts believe people who've contracted coronavirus have a certain degree of immunity against it, which would be handy information to know when it comes to easing lockdown restrictions.
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