So much has changed since the first cases of the coronavirus emerged in the United States earlier this year, with masks and social distancing now becoming the norm of everyday life (or they should be, anyway). But perhaps the most fluid part of the pandemic has been in trying to understand and predict the virus’ life span to begin with.
“This is such a complex disease that even immunologists can’t fully know everything about it,” said Christine Bishara, an internal medicine physician and founder ofFrom Within Medical in New York.
One of the areas that’s been confusing most recently is COVID-19 antibodies ― proteins found in the blood that signal if you’ve had a past infection and therefore have built up immunity from the virus. Here, experts explain how the knowledge around antibodies has changed, how accurate tests are and what the latest research behind antibodies tells us about a future vaccine.
24 PHOTOSBack to school around the worldSee GalleryBack to school around the world
BANGKOK, THAILAND – AUGUST 10:Thai kindergarteners wear face masks as they play in screened in play areas used for social distancing at the Wat Khlong Toey School on August 10, 2020 in Bangkok, Thailand. In the beginning of July The Wat Khlong Toey School reopened its doors to its approximately 250 students following the relaxation of lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the school was forced to shutter its doors in mid March due to Thailand’s emergency decree and lockdown, the administration and teachers prepared measures to ensure a safe reopening. By installing sinks and soap dispensers outside of each classroom, creating social distancing screens in classrooms and lunch areas and installing hand sanitizer and temperature scanners at the entry the Wat Khlong Toey school has been open for a month and has had zero cases of COVID-19. Although Thailand is now allowing schools throughout the country to further relax safety measures, the Wat Khlong Toey school has chosen to continue strict social distancing to ensure the safety of their students and teachers. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
BRASILIA, BRAZIL – AUGUST 06: A student has her body temperature measured before classes during first day back to school amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at the Arvense School on August 06, 2020 in Brasilia. The school has taken measures to prevent Covid-19 such as reducing students per class, intensifying the cleaning, and disinfection booths. The government of the Federal District has already authorized the resumption of classes in private schools, but in public schools they are expected to reopen at the end of August. Brazil has over 2.912,000 confirmed positive cases of Coronavirus and has over 98,493 deaths. (Photo by Andressa Anholete/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – 2020/08/03: A protester holds a placard that says Demand safe schools during the demonstration.Black Lives Matter, UFT United federation of teachers (union), the Democratic Socialists of America, and other groups gathered on the National Day of Resistance to protest against reopening of schools as well as police-free schools. (Photo by Ron Adar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Robesonia, PA – August 8: Volunteer Joseph Cunliffe puts a bag of bread in the back of a person’s car. During a food distribution by the Olivet Boys and Girls Club, Heidelberg Family Restaurant, and Clover Dairy Farms, giving out milk and bread to people in need, at Conrad Weiser Middle School in Robesonia Saturday morning August 8, 2020. The number of people in need of food assistance has gone up as a result of the coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn. (Photo by Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)
GAZA CITY, GAZA – AUGUST 08: Gazan students back to schools which have been closed since March due to the coronavirus (COVID -19) pandemic in Gaza City on August 08, 2020. (Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Police officers and soldiers patrol a popular running track in Melbourne on August 4, 2020 after the state announced new restrictions as the city battles fresh outbreaks of the COVID-19 coronavirus. – Australia’s Victoria state imposed fresh, sweeping restrictions on August 2, 2020, including a curfew in Melbourne for the next six weeks, a ban on weddings, and schools and universities going back online in the coming days. (Photo by William WEST / AFP) (Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)
BRASILIA, BRAZIL – AUGUST 06: A school staff member sanitizes a book during first day back to school amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19)pandemic at the Arvense School on August 06, 2020 in Brasilia. The school has taken measures to prevent Covid-19 such as reducing students per class, intensifying cleaning, disinfection booths and measuring body temperature when entering and leaving students and staff. The government of the Federal District has already authorized the resumption of classes in private schools, but in public schools they are expected to reopen at the end of August. Brazil has over 2.912,000 confirmed positive cases of Coronavirus and has over 98,493 deaths. (Photo by Andressa Anholete/Getty Images)
A skeleton hangs from the back window of a protester’s car as it drives in the Occupy City Hall Protest and Car Caravan hosted by Chicago Teachers Union in Chicago, Illinois, on August 3, 2020. – Teachers and activists hold car caravan all over the country on August 3, 2020 to demand adequate classroom safety measures as schools debate reopening. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP) (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, UNITED STATES – 2020/07/28: A protester holds a placard that says Keep Educators Off Of Ventilators before the Monroe County Community School Corporation school board meeting in Bloomington,Indiana is experiencing a 73-percent increase in new Coronavirus infections, but local schools were due to resume in-person classes next week on August 5th. However, while some want their kids back in school, others fear schools will be a daily super spreader event, and asked the local school board to delay classes until more data is available on the spread of the virus in the community. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A girl clad in mask poses for a picture during an awareness session about COVID-19 coronavirus disease held by a local kindergarten in Gaza City on August 10, 2020, as education facilities in the Palestinian enclave re-opened for the new 2020-2021 academic year following an easing of pandemic restrictions. (Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
10 August 2020, Berlin: Sabine Reichling, teacher teaches at the Nürtingen primary school in Kreuzberg. The Berlin schools will return to normal operation after the summer holidays. Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa (Photo by Britta Pedersen/picture alliance via Getty Images)
10 August 2020, Berlin: A mask is one of the teaching aids used in the lessons at the Nürtingen primary school in Kreuzberg. The Berlin schools will return to normal operation after the summer holidays. Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa (Photo by Britta Pedersen/picture alliance via Getty Images)
10 August 2020, Berlin: Sandra Scheeres (SPD), Senator for Education, talks to 7-year-old Lea (r) while Nay (l) learns with her teacher at the Nürtingen primary school in Kreuzberg on the screen. The Berlin schools will return to normal operation after the summer holidays. Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa (Photo by Britta Pedersen/picture alliance via Getty Images)
BERLIN, GERMANY – AUGUST 10: Children wearing protective face masks dance as they arrive for the first day of classes of the new school year at the GuthsMuths elementary school during the coronavirus pandemic on August 10, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. Classes at schools across Germany are beginning this month with face mask requirements varying by state. Coronavirus infection rates are climbing again in Germany, from an average of 400 new cases per day about two weeks ago to over 1,100 yesterday, according to the Robert Koch Institute. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
BERLIN, GERMANY – AUGUST 10: Children wearing protective face masks arrive for the first day of classes of the new school year at the GuthsMuths elementary school during the coronavirus pandemic on August 10, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. Classes at schools across Germany are beginning this month with face mask requirements varying by state. Coronavirus infection rates are climbing again in Germany, from an average of 400 new cases per day about two weeks ago to over 1,100 yesterday, according to the Robert Koch Institute. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
Students backpacks are seen hanging on coat rack outside a class room at the Carl Orff primary school in west Berlin on August 10, 2020, as school resumed after the summer break in Berlin and several other German states amid a Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP) (Photo by TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)
BANGKOK, THAILAND – AUGUST 10:Thai kindergarteners wear face masks as they play in screened in play areas used for social distancing at the Wat Khlong Toey School on August 10, 2020 in Bangkok, Thailand. In the beginning of July The Wat Khlong Toey School reopened its doors to its approximately 250 students following the relaxation of lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the school was forced to shutter its doors in mid March due to Thailand’s emergency decree and lockdown, the administration and teachers prepared measures to ensure a safe reopening. By installing sinks and soap dispensers outside of each classroom, creating social distancing screens in classrooms and lunch areas and installing hand sanitizer and temperature scanners at the entry the Wat Khlong Toey school has been open for a month and has had zero cases of COVID-19. Although Thailand is now allowing schools throughout the country to further relax safety measures, the Wat Khlong Toey school has chosen to continue strict social distancing to ensure the safety of their students and teachers. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
NEW DELHI, INDIA – AUGUST 7: A health worker in PPE coveralls collects a nasal swab sample from a man to test for coronavirus infection, at Ramjas School, in Daryaganj, on August 7, 2020 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Biplov Bhuyan/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Seniors of the Lycee Petion-ville conduct their own remedial lesson on August 6, 2020, in the Petion-ville Commune of Port-au-Prince, having been unable to benefit from distance learning during the months of confinement like students from some wealthier schools. – When Haiti’s pandemic-shuttered schools re-open for classes on August 10, the growing chasm between the country’s rich and poor students will be on painfully clear display. The wealthiest have broad campuses ready for social distancing and programs that continued online despite the virus, while some of the poorest don’t even have running water for students to scrub their hands. However, between those extremes are a small number of educators with a vision for a better system that they are trying to build with or without government help. (Photo by Pierre Michel Jean / AFP) (Photo by PIERRE MICHEL JEAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Teacher Maura Silva, who created a “hug kit” using plastic covers, embraces her student Yuri Araujo Silva at Yuri’s home, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in the 77 Padre Miguel slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Students wearing protective face masks amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, clap along instead of singing a song during a music class at Takanedai Daisan elementary school, which practices various methods of social distancing in order to prevent the infection, in Funabashi, east of Tokyo, Japan July 16, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Denisse Toala (3rd R, green shirt), a 16-year-old student, teaches children in an improvised school she has set up under a tree since they have been unable to attend virtual classes in the low-income neighbourhood Realidad de Dios, during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Guayaquil, Ecuador July 2, 2020. Picture taken July 2, 2020. REUTERS/Santiago Arcos
Children, who have missed their online classes due to a lack of internet facilities, maintain a safe distance as they listen to pre-recorded lessons over loudspeakers, after schools were closed following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Dandwal village in the western state of Maharashtra, India, July 28, 2020. Picture taken July 28, 2020. REUTERS/Prashant Waydande TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A student gestures as he waits with other students of the Cultural High School Class 2020 to receive their diplomas during a graduation ceremony on their cars, to keep social distancing, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico June 19, 2020. Picture taken June 19, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYUp Next
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Antibodies do disappear, but it’s completely normal
“When our body is exposed to a virus, it goes through a very complex immune response, which includes different types of cells including B cells and T cells,” Bishara said. T cells help regulate the activity of B cells, while it’s the B cells that produce the antibodies that attach to cells that have been infected by a virus.
However, these antibodies take time to appear once you’ve been infected with any virus, including the coronavirus.
“It typically takes one to three weeks to see antibodies,” said Steven Schnur, a cardiologist and internist at Mount Sinai Medical in Miami and founder of Imhealthytoday.org, a doctor-designed program for helping workplaces reopen from the pandemic safely. “Once they do appear, antibodies tend to wane after three months.”
But this doesn’t mean that once antibodies start vanishing you’re no longer immune to the coronavirus. That’s because those B cells and T cells that have been created in response to the virus have long-lasting memory and immunity, regardless of what your antibody levels drop to, Schnur said.
Many who may have been ‘reinfected’ with coronavirus likely never recovered in the first place
Right now, experts say it’s pretty unlikely that you can catch the virus again after you’ve recovered.
“There are a lot of anecdotal stories, but research has not found any individuals that have been truly reinfected,” Schnur said. “When people get sick again after six weeks or two months it’s really the same virus and same initial infection that has lingered longer than 10 days.”
Viruses can tend to be dormant for a bit, which can make them more drawn out symptomatically, Bishara added. This is supported even further in the characteristics behind those T cells and B cells.
“When the body generates an immune response [to a virus], T cells remember in case of a possibility of future reinfection, so that if presented with the virus again your body recognizes it and knows how to handle it,” Bishara said.
29 PHOTOSCoronavirus in TexasSee GalleryCoronavirus in Texas
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 28:(EDITORIAL USE ONLY) A member of the medical staff speaks to a patient who is treated with a helmet-based ventilator in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads.(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
A casket carrying the body of Lola M. Simmons is removed from a hearse at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery following a double funeral service for her mother Lola M. Simmons-Jones at the Denley Drive Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas on July 30, 2020, who both died of coronavirus. – Lola M. Simmons-Jones passed due to the coronavirus on July 15, her daughter Lashaye Antoinette Allen passed away from the coronavirus on July 20. Dallas County reported a record number of COVID-19 related deaths in a single day at 36, according to local health officials. This brings the total to 658 confirmed deaths since the first one was reported March 19. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith / AFP) (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 28:(EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff treat a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads.(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 28:(EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff treat a patient who is wearing helmet-based ventilator in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads.(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 28:(EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff talk to each otherin the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads.(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 28:(EDITORIAL USE ONLY)A patient who is treated with a helmet-based ventilator lies on a bed in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads.(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 28:(EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff change bed sheets in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads.(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 28:(EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff treat a patient who is wearing helmet-based ventilator in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads.(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 28:(EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Members of the medical staff treat a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked since Texas reopened, pushing intensive-care units to full capacity and sparking concerns about a surge in fatalities as the virus spreads.(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
The caskets holding the bodies of Lola M. Simmons-Jones and her daughter, Lashaye Antoinette Allen, who both died of coronavirus, are placed next one another before burial at Lincoln Memorial Cemeteryin Dallas, Texas on July 30, 2020. – Lola M. Simmons-Jones passed due to the coronavirus on July 15, her daughter Lashaye Antoinette Allen passed away from the coronavirus on July 20. Dallas County reported a record number of COVID-19 related deaths in a single day at 36, according to local health officials. This brings the total to 658 confirmed deaths since the first one was reported March 19. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith / AFP) (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT – A casket carrying the body of Lola M. Simmons is placed into a hearse following the funeral service at the Denley Drive Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas on July 30, 2020, whodied of coronavirus alongside her daughter Lashaye Antoinette Allen. – Lola M. Simmons-Jones passed due to the coronavirus on July 15, her daughter Lashaye Antoinette Allen passed away from the coronavirus on July 20. Dallas County reported a record number of COVID-19 related deaths in a single day at 36, according to local health officials. This brings the total to 658 confirmed deaths since the first one was reported March 19. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith / AFP) (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)
A man in a car waits to be tested for COVID-19 at a drive-thru testing site at Camping World Stadium on July 22, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. On Wednesday, Florida recorded more than 100 new coronavirus deaths for the seventh time in two weeks, and is tied with Texas for the worst current daily average in the nation. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A City of Orlando employee holds a COVID-19 test sample at a drive-thru testing site at Camping World Stadium on July 22, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. On Wednesday, Florida recorded more than 100 new coronavirus deaths for the seventh time in two weeks, and is tied with Texas for the worst current daily average in the nation. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A couple wearing face masks waits to be tested for COVID-19 at a drive-thru testing site at Camping World Stadium on July 22, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. On Wednesday, Florida recorded more than 100 new coronavirus deaths for the seventh time in two weeks, and is tied with Texas for the worst current daily average in the nation. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A man who arrived on foot is tested for COVID-19 at a drive-thru testing site at Camping World Stadium on July 22, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. On Wednesday, Florida recorded more than 100 new coronavirus deaths for the seventh time in two weeks, and is tied with Texas for the worst current daily average in the nation. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
EL PASO, TX – JULY 21: A nurse pulls out a testing swab at a newly opened mega drive-thru site at El Paso Community College Valle Verde campus on July 21, 2020 in El Paso, Texas. As coronavirus deaths surge past 4000 in Texas, overwhelmed hospitals are being forced to plan for extra refrigerated storage to hold deceased patients. (Photo by Cengiz Yar/Getty Images)
EL PASO, TX – JULY 21: People wait in their cars at a newly opened mega drive-thru site at SISD Student Activities Complex on July 21, 2020 in El Paso, Texas. As coronavirus deaths surge past 4000 in Texas, overwhelmed hospitals are being forced to plan for extra refrigerated storage to hold deceased patients. (Photo by Cengiz Yar/Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-Sonia Aguirre, right, and 9-years-old Abdiel Sanchez pays respect to his great grandfather Fernando Aguirre, who passed away at age 69 from COVID-19. Fernando’s wife is struggling for her life with coronavirus. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-Deacon Joe Vargas, age 43, is conducting three funerals a day, while wearing an air purifier around his neck to help protect him from getting the coronavirus. He is the youngest deacon in the Diosese of Brownsville, Texas, which is why he is so busy. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
EL PASO, TX – JULY 21: The El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner on July 21, 2020 in El Paso, Texas. As coronavirus deaths surge past 4000 in Texas, overwhelmed hospitals are being forced to plan for extra refrigerated storage to hold deceased patients. (Photo by Cengiz Yar/Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-Two day-old David Alejandro Vega was being treated in the neonatal intensive care unit at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinbug, Texas. His mother, Mayra Vega, who tested positive for COVID, had been unable to hold or see him except via video. Mayra Vega, his mother, tested positive last month, and it resting in the maternal coronavirus ward at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in McAllen, Texas. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-The brother of the groom, Noe De Leon, right, and his wife Jessica Forquer-DeLeon, left, watch with several dozen masked guests during Nichola De Leon’s wedding Saturday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mission, Texas.The brother of the groom, Noe De Leon, and his wife ???, watch with several dozen masked guests during Nichola De Leon’s wedding Saturday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mission, Texas. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-A COVID-19 patient is placed on her stomach to help breathing while on a ventilator at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg, Texas, where hospitalizations and deaths have spiked this month. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
MC ALLEN, TEXAS-July 20, 2020-Catrina Rugar, 34, a traveling nurse from Florida, responded first to hospitals in New York City, then Texas’ Rio Grande Valley this month, where she was treating COVID patients at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg last week.The coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where people of all ages are getting infecting at family gatherings. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 17: Medical workers from New York wearing personal protective equipments handle test samples at temporary testing site for COVID-19 in Higher Dimensions Churchon July 17, 2020 in Houston, Texas. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo dispatched medical workers from New York State to assist with the spread of COVID-19 in Houston, and particularly in the hard-hit communities of color. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
Registered Respiratory Therapist Niticia Mpanga walks into a Covid patients room in the ICU at Oakbend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, on July 15, 2020. – The latest modeling projects the number of COVID-19 deaths in the US to increase further, even as one research team suggests the near-universal use of masks could save 40,000 lives between now and November (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
A healthcare worker answers the phone in the ER at Oakbend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, on July 15, 2020. – The latest modeling projects the number of COVID-19 deaths in the US to increase further, even as one research team suggests the near-universal use of masks could save 40,000 lives between now and November (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
A healthcare worker talks to a patient in the ER at Oakbend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, on July 15, 2020. – The latest modeling projects the number of COVID-19 deaths in the US to increase further, even as one research team suggests the near-universal use of masks could save 40,000 lives between now and November (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
A healthcare worker walks down the hall of the ICU at Oakbend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, on July 15, 2020. – The latest modeling projects the number of COVID-19 deaths in the US to increase further, even as one research team suggests the near-universal use of masks could save 40,000 lives between now and November (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)Up Next
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Antibody testing seems like a good idea in theory, but may not be entirely accurate
There are a few flaws in antibody testing that are now coming to light. First, there were a number of antibody tests that shipped to labs and medical offices in the U.S. without any review from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Results of the tests varied, making it impossible to confidently tell patients whether they had antibodies.
But even antibody tests currently on the market aren’t as accurate as the medical community would like to see.
“A majority of antibody tests are checking for B cell types, specifically the antibodies immunoglobulins G (IgG) and M (IgM),” Bishara said. “Those are the ones that usually appear after an infection, but they take some time to do so. Part of the problem comes from when an antibody test is given, because if the body hasn’t developed these antibodies yet, the test may come back as a false negative.”
Those who are asymptomatic may also have an issue when it comes to testing because the body isn’t launching as big of an immune response as someone who presents with more severe symptoms. A small study from China published in the journal Nature Medicine found that 40% of patients who were asymptomatic or had very mild symptoms and tested positive for the virus did not show any antibodies in the blood.
“For someone to think that they can walk around without proper precautions because they have antibodies is inaccurate,” Schnur said. “Whether or not you think you have antibody levels, you still need to social distance and wear a mask.”
However, if you’re still set on getting an antibody test, Schnur recommends one done as a finger stick (and double-check that it’s not on the FDA’s “removed” list). If you get a positive test, do another one at a different lab to confirm.
“Only if you have two positive results from two different labs is the positive predictive value over 90 or 95%,” he said.
Decreased antibody levels in the body won’t affect the efficacy of a vaccine
Vaccines in general have a sliding scale of longevity depending on the type of disease it’s for, Bishara said. Diseases like smallpox and polio have been essentially eradicated with a single vaccine dose, while the flu vaccine is required every year. Just because the coronavirus antibody levels may decrease over time doesn’t mean a vaccine won’t be effective. It all comes down to whether the virus is able to mutate.
“When it comes to the flu, someone may still get the flu even if they’ve gotten their flu shot because of its ability to change,” Schnur said, “though that person may not suffer symptomatically the same as someone who didn’t get the vaccine at all.”
Since the coronavirus is still so new, it’s impossible to know how much it will modify itself. But Schnur said as of right now it looks like it doesn’t mutate as fast or as often as something like influenza, meaning a vaccine would be effective longer.
“A vaccine may not give us lifetime immunity, but it will probably last several years,” he said.
Experts are still learning about the coronavirus. The information in this story is what was known or available as of press time, but it’s possible guidance around COVID-19 could change as scientists discover more about the virus. Please check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the most updated recommendations.
- This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
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