This archive report was first published on 11 May 2020.
As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at Stanford hospitals in northern California are working tirelessly to develop antibody tests that can help identify individuals who have been infected with the virus. Published on May 11, 2020, their efforts have led to the creation of a reliable antibody test that can detect the presence of antibodies in the blood, indicating that the individual has been exposed to the virus in the past.
Heidi and Jamshid, two healthcare workers, were among the first to undergo the antibody test. They were swabbed to ensure they were not currently infected with the virus, and then a vial of blood was taken for the antibody test. The test, also known as serology, can show if they had coronavirus in the past and their immune system raised antibodies to fight it off. However, it cannot predict if those antibodies will make them immune.
Dr. Scott Boyd and his team developed the test, which has been ramped up quickly to process at least 4,000 samples a day. The team uses controls to validate their tests, ensuring that the results are accurate. Preliminary data suggests that Heidi and Jamshid's negative antibody results are representative of the population in the Bay Area, where only a small fraction of people are testing positive for antibodies.
While having antibodies is not a free pass, the tests are a crucial step towards understanding immunity. Dr. Boyd hopes to have a neutralizing antibody test ready by the end of May, which will give a better sense of who is actually immune. The test will help researchers design possible treatments and vaccines, and provide a better picture of how widespread coronavirus actually is.
