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The list of serological tests. Summary: tons of choices and very little quality control or standardization. What sensitivity / specificity you ask? Most of these companies don't publish it, and even if they do--is it translatable to real world? More: http://av.co/covid
Phew, this was a lot tougher than we anticipated.
1) What is this test? The serological test is a measure of a patient's immune system --it doesn't directly diagnose the disease.
2) That's great--will it then tell me if I'm immune? It may--but only if the test is highly sensitive and specific to the response to that infection agent.
3) Each person's immune system is quite unique. The response is of polyclonal nature. Each clone of antibody has different physiochemical properties
4) The clonal makeup and composition = how individual's immune system sees an infectious agent depends on a) the genetic background of the person b) former encounters with various infectious agents => Rxn of a patient's serum not precisely predictable - ICMI
5) Also, the antigenic makeup of an infectious agent is not always foreseeable. Antigenic variations leading to different serotypes is a quite common phenomenon
6) That's a lot of bio, what about these tests? Can I take them, test positive and go back to work? MAYBE
7) Multiple studies: SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may not be detectable before 3 days after onset of symptoms or for up to 10 days after infection. But test result type illustration below (Source: Diazyme)
8) Test sensitivity and specificity ABSOLUTELY matter--is this test accurate? How often will you take this test also matters.
9) Illustration of Variation of the Levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and Antigen, IgM and IgG after infection (Source: Diazyme)
