We're rolling out new blood tests for the coronavirus. It's called serological tests (current name) to help pinpoint people who are immune, therefore answer your linked question. This test is going to id the full scope of the pandemic.
It's a blood test, searching out antibodies in the blood at molecule level made by the immune system in response to the coronavirus attack, specifically ID who were infected and have already recovered from Covid-19, including those who were never diagnosed, either because they didn’t feel particularly sick or they couldn’t get an initial test. These individuals will be safe at least for some time. So the tests could signal who could be prioritized to return to work or serve as a frontline health worker. Also, I think the most important thing is since we can id the infected people who are asymptomatic or recovered from mild sick and whose blood has generated antibodies, these people can donate their blood to those infected and seriously sick people and the vulnerable, i.e. the donated blood serves as a temporary vaccine before we have vaccine.
It's time for the modelers, fearmonger MSM, politicians and TDS on this board who post nothing but Trump everyday shut up.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/27/serological-tests-reveal-immune-coronavirus/
The next frontier in coronavirus testing: Identifying the full scope of the pandemic, not just individual infections
By ANDREW JOSEPH
Scientists are starting to roll out new blood tests for the coronavirus, a key development that, unlike the current diagnostic tests, will help pinpoint people who are immune and reveal the full scope of the pandemic.
The “serological” tests — which rely on drawn blood, not a nasal or throat swab — can identify people who were infected and have already recovered from Covid-19, including those who were never diagnosed, either because they didn’t feel particularly sick or they couldn’t get an initial test. Scientists expect those individuals will be safe from another infection for at least some time — so the tests could signal who could be prioritized to return to work or serve as a frontline health worker.
The serological tests, which are being deployed in some countries in Asia and are starting to be used at one New York hospital, could also eventually help scientists answer outstanding epidemiological questions about the spread of the virus and might even steer an inoculation strategy should a vaccine make it to market.
“We need to identify all those people here who not only knew they had the coronavirus but maybe weren’t sure because they didn’t get tested or because they had minimal symptoms,” said Christopher Kirchhoff, a former White House aide who wrote a 2016 review of the U.S. government’s response to the West African Ebola crisis. “You can imagine asking them to take the key roles in our economy to keep things moving, whether that’s manning a checkout aisle at a supermarket or taking the lead for caring for someone else in their family who comes down with the coronavirus.”
Serological tests sniff out antibodies in the blood — molecules made by the immune system in response to a pathogen’s attack.
Right now, the main diagnostic tests for Covid-19 rely on a technology called PCR and search for evidence of the virus’ RNA genome. But as people recover, they vanquish the virus from their system, so PCR isn’t helpful much beyond the infection period.
Antibodies made in response to a virus, however, persist in the blood, acting like sentinels and rallying an immediate response should the virus try to invade again. The antibodies are unique signatures — different protectors modeled after encountering different viruses — so finding them is a signal of past contact with a particular virus.
It’s the difference between catching an invader red-handed versus going back to the crime scene and dusting for prints.
“It seems very easy to be able to say yes or no, somebody was infected or wasn’t infected,” said Florian Krammer, a virologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Earlier this month, Krammer and colleagues posted on a preprint server a paper describing the serological assays they had developed to detect previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the name of the coronavirus. (Preprints are scientific papers that have not been through the peer-review process yet.) They’ve also started a website where labs can order the ingredients they need to get tests up and running themselves.
And this week, Mount Sinai announced that antibodies detected in blood from recovered patients would be used to treat current patients. It’s hoped that injecting patients with these antibodies — a type of therapy sometimes called convalescent plasma — might provide an initial layer of protection as their own immune system kicks into gear.
Companies and academic researchers are also trying to develop plasma therapies and are scrambling to obtain blood from survivors. Serological tests could help expand the supply.
Link: https://forum.uhnd.com/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=2&msgid=576103
A nearby county in Southwest Colorado (San Miguel, home of Telluride) was able to provide these tests for every citizen that wanted one (a resident in that county is the CEO of a company developing them).
That said, to get enough tests for the whole country? Seem like we are probably months away from that based on the current pace of necessary supplies becoming available. At this point it seems the shut downs will need continue for at least several more weeks.
Also, the first round of results from that county indicated that all tests came back negative, meaning none are immune, yet.
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What providers should do for overall public health isn't necessarily what gets done.
The Swede’s have decided not to do anything at all about social distancing, etc. Should be an interesting experiment to watch.