UPMC close to immunity test that could help end lockdown
UPMC researchers are close to completing a blood test to determine immunity against the virus that causes COVID-19.
Such a test could certify little or no risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and identify the so-called “super” people who could serve in the health-care battle against COIVD-19 with little risk to themselves.
“We are developing an antibody test based on a European test to see if people were exposed and might be immune,” said Dr. Alan Wells, executive vice-chairman of the Section of Laboratory Medicine in the UPMC Department of Pathology. He led the research effort that also involved Drs. Michael Shurin and Sarah Wheeler.
Medical tests already can determine the presence of the three key antibodies that the immune system generates in response to the virus. But their presence alone doesn’t mean the person cannot become ill with COVID-19 and transmit it to others.
“Those [European] tests show that the person was exposed but don’t say in and of themselves if the person is immune,” Dr. Wells said. “There is no clear test for immunity at this point.”
Tests to determine exposure and infection presented their own challenges and aren’t yet 100% determinant, given that a more advanced infection that might be detected only in the lungs rather than nose or throat.
“We need detection to see who’s immune right now but there are more uncertainties in testing for immunity than there are for testing for the virus,” he said.
The idea of an immunity test got its foothold in European and more specifically Germany, with researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig busy developing an immunity test. With that test, those shown to have immunity will be issued “immunity certificates,” allowing for “proper transition into post lock-down life.”
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2020/04/05/Immunity-test-could-help-end-the-lock-down-covid-19-blood-test-upmc/stories/202004040002
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