United Kingdom pledges to roll out extensive antibody testing

[Jm954]

The United Kingdom could begin large-scale testing for coronavirus antibodies within days, government officials have said. If the roll-out goes ahead as planned, the country could become the first to implement at-home testing on this scale — but researchers caution that properly validating the accuracy of such tests and manufacturing them in large quantities presents a significant challenge.

Covert coronavirus infections could be seeding new outbreaks

On 25 March, a UK government official said that the country had ordered 3.5 million ‘finger-prick’ tests and planned to order millions more. The test will analyse drops of blood for antibodies that show whether a person has previously been infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. This will show who might now be immune and aid researchers in understanding the virus’s spread. These ‘serological tests’ should become available to the public in days rather than weeks or months, said Sharon Peacock, director of the national infection service at Public Health England (PHE), a UK health agency. Peacock suggested that the bulk of the UK tests, which will be available to buy from Amazon and pharmacies to perform at home, had not yet arrived.

The blood test will need to distinguish between antibodies against the COVID-19 virus and those against other seasonal coronaviruses to which people are commonly exposed, he says. “I would expect the false-positive rate to be very high because of this prior exposure — unless they figured out how to make the serological test very specific,” he says.

But supply is likely to remain limited, says David Wraith, an immunologist at the University of Birmingham, UK. It will be challenging for companies to manufacture millions of tests and for any one government to secure so many during a global pandemic, meaning that health-care workers must be given priority access, he says.

It is not clear who is developing the UK test. A PHE spokesperson said the agency was talking to a range of companies. Peacock added that highly vulnerable members of the public who test positive will also require further tests before they can resume normal life.

More here: nature.com/articles/d41586-...

Stay safe, Jackie

[PlanetaryKim]

I consider this great news! Especially in light of FDA in US (with other countries following soon, I assume), recently making it possible to treat critically ill covid-19 patients with plasma transfusions from recovered patients who now have antibodies! nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fd...

I have wondered (hoping against hope, I imagine), whether the 3-week low fever and dry cough and shortness of breath I have been going through (now going away?) could possibly have been a mild expression of covid-19... in which case I would now have some antibodies. I probably would not be that lucky. But I would love to take an antibody test!

I do see the problem though in refining it enough so that it can distinguish covid-19 antibodies from common head-cold antibodies also caused by a coronavirus. Otherwise we'll have people thinking they are safe, who aren't.

[cllady01 Former Volunteer in reply to PlanetaryKim]

Kim, I read that as the trials that Gov. Cuomo announced a few days ago and not actually ready for prime time. I could be wrong, of course, as there is so much being said the noise of it all can get confusing.

[PlanetaryKim in reply to cllady01]

But the article says:

"The Food and Drug Administration will allow doctors across the country to begin using plasma donated by coronavirus survivors to treat patients who are critically ill with the virus under new emergency protocols approved Tuesday. The FDA's decision comes a day after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state's health department planned to begin treating the sickest coronavirus patients with antibody-rich plasma extracted from the blood of those who've recovered."

So it sounds like any doctor anywhere in US can in fact use this technique now, if they have access to plasma from coronavirus survivor, and if their patient is critical. I can see people within same family being willing to donate to keep a loved one alive if they too have had it and recovered.

[cllady01 Former Volunteer in reply to PlanetaryKim]

Yes, there will need to be a large number for the trial to be valid.

I have read in the Atlantic, the process for the serum use will be as is seen in other trials. The approval for this treatment right now is the same as for any trial--approval to begin using to see if it is a benefit for a given set of patients—a normal part of trial protocol.

And, I, too, hope for it to be valuable in the treatment of patients. I appreciate that the sickest patients will surely be providing a valuable service at this early time.

Tough for Drs. in the very early stages to know they can not promise anything, but it, hopefully, will be life changing for the patients. These will most likely be the patients with underlying health issues--so there will be discoveries in those areas also, I assume.

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to PlanetaryKim]

They would need to have special cell separation facilities, sometimes called apheresis machines. Not always available in every hospital unfortunately.

The IVIG that CLL patients receive has the immunoglobulins concentrated. To just use native unprocessed plasma would need several litres maybe to have a therapeutic effect and there is the chance of unwanted reactions to the other proteins in the plasma, especially if you were infusing quite a lot of it.

Stay home, stay safe!

Jackie

[G1llHa1n]

Really good to know there is progress in this field for so many people especially the key workers.

Is it likely that the availability of these tests will at some useful point make a difference to the advice to the UK shielded/very vulnerable group?

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to G1llHa1n]

If you were tested and could definitely say that you had had the infection and were now immune then you would not need to be in isolation or shielded.

Likewise, people who were immune and looking after you could come and go without too much concern about passing it on to you.

There was talk of the public being able to buy a test but it would need to be very accurate and simple to do and interpret.

Stay safe

Jackie

[G1llHa1n in reply to Jm954]

Thanks for the info. Fingers (& toes) crossed - both for the test to get to us at good speed and the best possible result.