Abstract
Antibody tests for detecting past infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have many uses for public health decision making, but demand has largely come from individual consumers. This review focuses on the individual relevance of antibody tests: their accuracy in detecting prior infection, what past SARS-CoV-2 infection can currently infer about future immunity or possible medical sequelae, and the potential future importance of antibody tests for vaccine selection and medical screening. Given uncertainty about the antibody tests (quality, accuracy level, positive predictive value) and what those tests might indicate immunologically (durability of antibodies and necessity for protection from reinfection), seropositive test results should not be used to inform individual decision making, and antibody testing should remain a tool of public health at this time.
Highlights
Trends in MicrobiologyCOVID-19 Antibody Tests: A Valuable Public Health Tool with Limited Relevance to Individuals
Antibody tests for detecting past infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have many uses for public health decision making, but demand has largely come from individual consumers
Advent of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Antibody Testing Market Serology testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is useful to determine whether people were previously infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
Summary
We failed to provide them with the simple, inexpensive means of proving their immunity,’ they wrote [7]. Cardiovascular impacts, for instance, are seen in 20–35% of patients, and long-term cardiovascular impacts such as myocarditis have been observed in young adults recovered from COVID-19 [73,74,75] As this understanding evolves, the use of antibody tests to determine past infection may become more important [76]. SARS-CoV-2 exposure induces long-lasting protective immunity, a positive serology test could indicate that an individual does not require vaccination or should not receive priority for vaccination. This ‘triage’ of individuals eligible for vaccination could be useful if vaccine doses are limited. An individual who was exposed several months before taking a serology test may have a negative test result
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