According to the guidance issued on Wednesday, the ICMR stated these tests can be done on blood/serum/plasma samples, the results of which are available within 30 minutes and the test comes positive after 7-10 days of infection.
"The test remains positive for several weeks after infection. A positive test indicates exposure to SARS-CoV-2 while a negative test does not rule out COVID-19 infection.
These tests are not recommended for diagnosis of COVID-19 infection," the ICMR stressed.
Then how it will be helpful to contain the contagion?
The risks of reopening workplaces and the economy to individuals and communities are real; steps in that direction should be taken cautiously. Antibody testing, made available to those in the workforce, will soon offer a scientifically valid way to better determine workplace access and mitigation strategies based on the risk that individuals may transmit the virus to or acquire the virus from coworkers. But the costs of delaying any reopening until we are certain that no one returning to work will transmit Covid-19 are also real. There is no such thing as a 100% safe bet. Let’s not permit an unattainable ideal to be the enemy of a very good option that we currently have. - NEJM
This serology blood test is meant to identify antibodies in patients' blood, which will indicate that a person had an immune response to COVID-19. A +ve result to this antibody (IgG) test is indicative of previous exposure to COVID-19 and a proper immune response where the body has developed antibodies. The majority of patients develop such antibodies within the first 8-13 days. To note that Antibody tests are not meant to detect active infection. The questions that can be answered by the Antibody tests are i) How widely have the coronavirus spread — and ii) if you’ve been infected, do you have lasting immunity? based on these data administration can decide on when to safely open up. But having a positive test does not mean that the patient after recovery, needs not to maintain safe distancing or wear a mask.
It is actually a supplementary protocol to RT-PCR for surveillance purposes majorly just to gauge the extent of COVID-19 Infection in the community....
It is quicker and cost effective...
In case of positive test by this method... a symptomatic person is verified by RT-PCR...(before starting treatment)....
As testing has been upscaled in India, it’s a cheaper option to test large population without exhausting the available costly resources directly....
Serological surveys are usually used to quantify the proportion of people (prevalence) or animals in a population positive for a specific antibody or the titre or concentrations of an antibody. These surveys are potentially the most direct and informative technique available to infer the dynamics of a population's susceptibility and level of immunity.
Improved serological surveillance would allow governments, aid agencies and policy writers to direct public health resources to where they are needed most.
Ref: World Serology Bank
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