COVID-19 Antibody Test

Antibody Detection Test for COVID-19

It is a simple blood test to know if you had the COVID-19 infection or Coronavirus in the past.

This test detects IgG antibodies to COVID-19 or the infection caused by Coronavirus. The antibodies develop after a person has been infected with COVID19. The antibodies may take 2 weeks or more to develop after being infected. 

Antibodies are proteins produced by the human body in response to an infection and help fight it off. They can stay in the blood for months to years and help in countering future attacks by the same infection.

There are 2 main types of antibodies IgM and IgG. As a rule of thumb, in most infections, IgM arrives on the scene first (usually within a week to 10 days) and at least a week later, IgG appears. However, this pattern varies from disease to disease. IgM then slowly peters out while IgG persists for years and can provide future immunity against the causative microorganism.

Usually the detection of IgM antibodies indicates that the infection is still in its acute phase and detection of IgG antibodies indicates the infection has passed.

So far, scientific data suggests that, in COVID-19, antibodies can appear anytime between 5 days to 3 weeks after the onset of symptoms. Some might take a longer time to produce the antibody.

Whether these antibodies confer an acquired immunity to the patient against future infection is unclear at this moment, although one would like to believe so.

A Positive Antibody Test, is only a surrogate marker of a recent infection. Therefore, the ANTIBODY TEST, BY ITSELF CANNOT BE USED FOR DIAGNOSIS OF AN ACTIVE INFECTION.