As of today, the 2019 coronavirus is rampaging throughout the United States and the rest of the world. There are currently over 1.7 million cases worldwide with 500,000 of them being in the United States. A large factor to the high spread of this disease is the lack of testing but a new test involving antibodies is on the way to help ease this problem. The CDC is currently working on a test to look for the presence of antibodies that would be present if an individual was exposed to COVID-19. This test along with the RNA test will help determine how much of the world population is infected or was infected at some point.
The Nature states that the specific IgM and IgG antibodies that respond to COVID-19 were used as a basis for developing this test. The initial antibody response begins with solely IgM due to B cells still being activated and have not undergone class switching to produce IgG. Therefore, those with just IgM are at the beginning stages of the infection and have only just begun to fight it off. After millions of B cells have become plasma cells or memory cells and have class switched, IgG will begin to be produced to provide a strong immune response to the infection. Those with both IgM and IgG antibodies are actively fighting off the virus and if no symptoms are present, they are asymptomatic.
On the other hand, if the antibody test detects only IgG is present, that means the patient has recovered from the infection. However, this could also mean that this person may have spread the virus unknowingly if they were asymptomatic. Therefore, it is very important that these antibody response tests become more available to prevent further spread because it can detect those who have already recovered but could have spread it further. Overall, I believe having widespread testing to determine asymptomatic carriers is key to ending this pandemic. If we want to go back to our normal lives, this antibody test will be very important for letting this happen.
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