# UK has developed an at-home antibody test with 98.6% accuracy



## Brendan Burgess (18 Jul 2020)

Covid-19 antibody test passes first major trials in UK
					

A version of a coronavirus antibody test is reported to have passed its first major trials in the UK.




					www.rte.ie
				




_The British government is reported to be making plans to distribute millions of free coronavirus antibody tests after a version it backed passed its first major trials.

The Daily Telegraph says the fingerprick tests, which can tell within 20 minutes if a person has ever been exposed to the coronavirus, were found to be 98.6% accurate in secret human trials held in June.

The newspaper says the test was developed by the UK Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC), a partnership between Oxford University and leading UK diagnostics firms.

It says that Britain's only antibody tests approved thus far have involved blood samples being sent to laboratories for analysis, which can take days._


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## odyssey06 (18 Jul 2020)

This woud be a game changer for travel work etc etc


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## joe sod (18 Jul 2020)

But it would only be useful to countries like the UK, US, Brazil and Sweden that already have had widespread exposure to corona virus, therefore a significant proportion of their population could have developed antibodies. For countries like Ireland that have had low incidence of corona virus most of the population was not exposed to it and therefore will not have developed antibodies. The old "herd immunity" factor then comes back into play


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## Brendan Burgess (18 Jul 2020)

Hi Joe

But on an individual basis, it would be nice to know that you have antibodies as it would suggest that you have some immunity.  

I was under the weather in early March.  I suspect I had a mild dose of  Covid. But a lot of people who suspect that they had turn out not to have had it. 

I would certainly be less worried if I knew that I have already had it.   

I am avoiding public transport now.  If I knew that I have antibodies, I wouldn't avoid public transport any more.

Brendan


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## joe sod (18 Jul 2020)

@Brendan Burgess  yes it would be nice to know but Dr Ciara Kelly wrote an article where she and her family got that the antibody test a while ago, none of them had antibodies even though She and some of her family were confirmed corona virus cases


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## Brendan Burgess (18 Jul 2020)

joe sod said:


> she and her family got that the antibody test



Hi Joe 

We are back to the quality of the tests and the rate of  false negatives and false positives 

1) If I take the latest test and it tells me that I don't have antibodies - I will continue as I am.   It may have been a false negative, but it won't change anything.   I will just be more careful than I need to be. 

2) If I take the latest test and it tells me that I have antibodies and it is 98.6% reliable, then I will be more open to taking public transport, taking a life, eating out, visiting people. etc. 

It might be a correct positive and I might not have immunity, so I won't be doing anything very risky anyway.

It might be a false positive and I might be putting myself at extra risk, but it's a question of balancing the risks with the costs. 



Brendan


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## cremeegg (18 Jul 2020)

Brendan Burgess said:


> If I take the latest test and it tells me that I have antibodies and it is 98.6% reliable, then I will be more open to taking public transport,* taking a life, *eating out, visiting people. etc.



Ah, don't do that Brendan, its never worth it.


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## mathepac (18 Jul 2020)

joe sod said:


> For countries like Ireland that have had low incidence of corona virus most of the population was not exposed to it and therefore will not have developed antibodies.


I've made this point many times and will continue to make it.

We have no idea how wide-spread the infection is in this country as we have never had testing at a national level. Forget about the excuses, this is the reality. However, this very test, administered nationally and with appropriately anonymised data collected and tabulated, could prove or disprove this mythical "low incidence" hypothesis that Holohan & Co keep droning on about.

The other advantage this test could have is to identify those individual and groups still at risk, if the data are collected and analysed. This would give the mathematical masturbators a chance to contribute some really useful information rather than the ongoing groundless nonsense they keep vomiting all over the media. Real hard information would give Blessed Martin & Co an opportunity to formulate a plan for the next almost inevitable surge in infections we will be exposed to, in the absence of any planning or sensible behaviour.


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## mathepac (18 Jul 2020)

The news in the thread about the self-administered home test for COVID-19 antibodies developed in the UK is the best news in a long while. With a touted 98.6% accuracy rate, I hope we can get our hands on it soon. Unless of course Blessed Martin or "That Bastard Boris" can find excuses for us not to have it and use it.

[EDIT] forgot link https://askaboutmoney.com/threads/u...home-antibody-test-with-98-6-accuracy.218732/


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## Sophrosyne (18 Jul 2020)

mathepac said:


> The news in the thread about the self-administered home test for COVID-19 antibodies developed in the UK is the best news in a long while.



Provided, of course, that antibodies confer immunity.


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## mathepac (18 Jul 2020)

No, I think the test is important to assess real prevalence at long last and it could provide an opportunity to test the immunity hypothesis in a controlled fashion. It's still all Holohan-ha as it stands now.


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## EmmDee (18 Jul 2020)

The antibody test is good news but I think an immediate test for covid would be even bigger. It would allow opening up of venues and travel if you could do the equivalent of a breath test and be cleared. The question of how long antibodies last could render an "antibody passport" less useful


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## michaelm (18 Jul 2020)

Sophrosyne said:


> Provided, of course, that antibodies confer immunity.


If antibodies don't confer immunity then the world is banjaxed.


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## joe sod (18 Jul 2020)

EmmDee said:


> The antibody test is good news but I think an immediate test for covid would be even bigger.


Does that mean a test that could detect corona virus when it is in incubation and before it strikes, has a virus ever been detected in incubation before? It might be a stupid question , I know viruses are just tiny pieces of dna or rna after that I havn't a clue


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## Sophrosyne (18 Jul 2020)

michaelm said:


> If antibodies don't confer immunity then the world is banjaxed.



"While these tests will help us better understand how coronavirus is spreading across the country, we do not yet know whether antibodies indicate immunity from reinfection or transmission," a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman was quoted as telling the newspaper [The Daily Telegraph].


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## EmmDee (18 Jul 2020)

joe sod said:


> Does that mean a test that could detect corona virus when it is in incubation and before it strikes, has a virus ever been detected in incubation before? It might be a stupid question , I know viruses are just tiny pieces of dna or rna after that I havn't a clue



No. I mean where people have it but are asymptomatic.


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## mathepac (19 Jul 2020)

One of the key purposes of testing at a macro level is to identify asymptomatic  "carriers".


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## christopher.. (19 Jul 2020)

A quote from an Irish times article dated 13th June: "In the first longitudinal study of its kind, scientists analysed the immune response of more than 90 patients and healthcare workers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust and found levels of antibodies that can destroy the virus peaked about three weeks after the onset of symptoms then swiftly declined"


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## Leo (20 Jul 2020)

michaelm said:


> If antibodies don't confer immunity then the world is banjaxed.



Covered in an earlier thread here, but immunity is far from a binary I have anti-bodies therefore I am immune situation.


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## Leo (20 Jul 2020)

Brendan Burgess said:


> We are back to the quality of the tests and the rate of false negatives and false positives



A lot of the quick self-tests have been discredited but when talking about Dr. Kelly, I presume she wasn't using one of these? The hospital where my wife works was involved in an antibody testing program in the last couple of months, they weren't given full results but talking among themselves those who had COVID-19 recently had much higher anti-body levels than those who had it a few months earlier. A similar study in London, though not yet peer reviewed, also shows a decline.


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## joe sod (21 Jul 2020)

Major progress made on vaccine in Oxford astra zenecca program, the potential drug has produced antibodies and T cells with no side effects. The next phase is testing on large populations in corona virus infected countries like Brazil and south Africa


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## Purple (21 Jul 2020)

joe sod said:


> Major progress made on vaccine in Oxford astra zenecca program, the potential drug has produced antibodies and T cells with no side effects. The next phase is testing on large populations in corona virus infected countries like Brazil and south Africa


Great to see a Dubliner heading up the whole programme there.


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## johnwilliams (24 Jul 2020)

heard that antibodies can disappear within days or  weeks


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## johnwilliams (24 Jul 2020)

as we have already seen the highest bidder are buying up /first dibs on these vaccines ,so how far down the line before we can get it?


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## joe sod (24 Jul 2020)

johnwilliams said:


> as we have already seen the highest bidder are buying up /first dibs on these vaccines ,so how far down the line before we can get it?


we will be the highest bidders, sure we are spending way more per capita than almost anyone on corona virus mitigation, definitely more than the Americans, I doubt a vaccine will be much of an impediment unless we choose to virtue signal on it.


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## Leo (27 Jul 2020)

joe sod said:


> we will be the highest bidders, sure we are spending way more per capita than almost anyone on corona virus mitigation, definitely more than the Americans, I doubt a vaccine will be much of an impediment unless we choose to virtue signal on it.



Where are you getting that data from?


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