Positive post : Covid antibody test a 'positive development'

[life on mars]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52656808

A test to find out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past has been approved by health officials in England.

Public Health England said the antibody test, developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, was a "very positive development".

The blood test looks for antibodies to see if a person has already had the virus and might now have some immunity.

Until now, officials have said such tests are not reliable enough.

The government previously spent a reported £16m buying antibody tests which later proved to be ineffective.

Sources told the BBC the Roche test was the first one to offer serious potential.

Antibodies are made by our immune system as it learns to fight an infection.

Finding antibodies that attack the coronavirus show that person has been infected in the past, but they do not prove they are protected against it in the future.

Experts at the government's Porton Down facility evaluated the Roche test last week, Public Health England said.

Roche found that if someone had been infected, it gave the correct result 100% of the time.

If someone had not caught coronavirus then it gave the correct result more than 99.8% of the time.

It means fewer than two in 1,000 healthy people would be incorrectly told they had previously caught the coronavirus.

[NYCBlue]

I'm trying to get an appointment for one as I type this. There's a 65 minute wait time on the phone.

[delmbox]

I'm trying to get an appointment for one as I type this. There's a 65 minute wait time on the phone.

Don't you live in NYC?!

[CCFCC3PO]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52656808

A test to find out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past has been approved by health officials in England.

Public Health England said the antibody test, developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, was a "very positive development".

The blood test looks for antibodies to see if a person has already had the virus and might now have some immunity.

Until now, officials have said such tests are not reliable enough.

The government previously spent a reported £16m buying antibody tests which later proved to be ineffective.

Sources told the BBC the Roche test was the first one to offer serious potential.

Antibodies are made by our immune system as it learns to fight an infection.

Finding antibodies that attack the coronavirus show that person has been infected in the past, but they do not prove they are protected against it in the future.

Experts at the government's Porton Down facility evaluated the Roche test last week, Public Health England said.

Roche found that if someone had been infected, it gave the correct result 100% of the time.

If someone had not caught coronavirus then it gave the correct result more than 99.8% of the time.

It means fewer than two in 1,000 healthy people would be incorrectly told they had previously caught the coronavirus.

The accuracy rate of this test is really encouraging, a while back it was being reported that such a test was much further away. This test may give us a clue on how long people can remain immune (if they are indeed immune) to the virus after recovering. It could tell us how many people have been exposed without symptoms.

[lisvaneblue]

The accuracy rate of this test is really encouraging, a while back it was being reported that such a test was much further away. This test may give us a clue on how long people can remain immune (if they are indeed immune) to the virus after recovering. It could tell us how many people have been exposed without symptoms.

Well done the pharmaceutical industry, and Roche in particular. At the end of the day this industry is often criticised, but they are the ones that produce the goods. HIV, manageable with drugs, same with lots of other diseases from arthritis through to cancer.
And they, if anyone, will produce a vaccine for Covid.

[life on mars]

I'm trying to get an appointment for one as I type this. There's a 65 minute wait time on the phone.

Good luck NYC Blue

[NYCBlue]

Good luck NYC Blue

Got one this morning. Very quick and easy. Should get the results next week. I hope it's positive. I'll be a big relief.

[goats]

Got one this morning. Very quick and easy. Should get the results next week. I hope it's positive. I'll be a big relief.

Did you have any symptoms at all? I trust it wasn’t free?

[NYCBlue]

Did you have any symptoms at all? I trust it wasn’t free?

It was $129. I fell ill on February 3rd and was completely knocked out. It was like something I'd never experienced before. Eventually, I dragged myself to a doctor and was tested for influenza which came back negative. After that, I thought that I had had pneumonia, but then I thought maybe it was Covid-19. If I test positive for antibodies, it should mean that I (and possibly my family) will at least be safe from infection for the immediate future. We'll see.

[CCFCC3PO]

Got one this morning. Very quick and easy. Should get the results next week. I hope it's positive. I'll be a big relief.

Why will you be relieved to have had covid-19?

[delmbox]

Why will you be relieved to have had covid-19?

Possibly because if he's had it and it's not been too bad it means he knows that he's not one of the ones who are susceptible to serious complications from it. My sister's a nurse with severe asthma and she had symptoms, it was terrifying for a few days then when she was clearly beating whatever she had we were willing for it to have been Covid so she'll have had it and come through. As it turns out her test came back negative, it brings a weird mix of emotions.

[life on mars]

The accuracy rate of this test is really encouraging, a while back it was being reported that such a test was much further away. This test may give us a clue on how long people can remain immune (if they are indeed immune) to the virus after recovering. It could tell us how many people have been exposed without symptoms.

There is great hope here, the only downside is re infection of the virus could only be be established after many months .

[CCFCC3PO]

There is great hope here, the only downside is re infection of the virus could only be be established after many months .

Eventually they will build a database of people known to harbour antibodies as a result of infection (whether with or without symptoms). I would expect that a sample of this database will continue to receive regular tests to see if they have are reinfected with covid. Eventually, a rate of reinfection can be established, together with a timeframe for immunity.

Personally, I'm not too sure if me knowing I had covid-19 without symptoms (for example) would make much difference to my life. I think it is more important that people on the front line are tested, and that they continue to receive tests to establish re-infection.

Essentially, this test will provide a lot more data that should help in learning more about the virus.

[light up the darkness]

“Public Health England said the antibody test, developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, was a "very positive development".


This is same company with whom the WAG had signed contract for PPE

Will this test be for England only?

Will we have to wait until them down the Bay decide that we need a separate contract only to be gazumped by Mozambique who offered more £

And then we find we can’t get any until December at the earliest

[CCFCC3PO]

Will this test be for England only?

The deal is likely to be UK wide.

[light up the darkness]

The deal is likely to be UK wide.

I know you are well intentioned but I don’t think we should hold our breath on this

[CCFCC3PO]

I know you are well intentioned but I don’t think we should hold our breath on this

It has very little to do with my intentions. It has everything to do with the UK Government's intentions, together with the devolved nations. The deal is likely to be UK wide so let's see before prejudging the Senedd to be useless tossers. You could always revert to plan B and claim I work there.

[light up the darkness]

It has very little to do with my intentions. It has everything to do with the UK Government's intentions, together with the devolved nations. The deal is likely to be UK wide so let's see before prejudging the Senedd to be useless tossers. You could always revert to plan B and claim I work there.

Are you Mark Drakeford in disguise ?

[xsnaggle]

The deal is likely to be UK wide.

Wales to 'take advantage' of any UK antibody deal
Dr Goodall says he is hopeful Wales could take advantage of any deal on antibody testing brokered by the UK government.

He said officials in Wales would be involved in UK-wide discussions later this afternoon and he was sure there would be an announcement on the matter in due course.

He welcomed progress on the development of a possible antibody test but reminded the public that a positive antibody test would not mean that individuals had immunity from the virus.

The test, which finds out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past, has been approved by health officials in England.

He said: “First of all there is a need to check and validate any testing regime to make sure that the accuracy is there that is necessary, and secondly, there would need to be a commercial arrangement in place to deploy that.

"Hopefully we can take advantage of a UK deal in place for that if it comes through.”

That's a worrying sentence in the light of other things. But if the government is paying for it from treasury funds then it should be for all of UK. If NHS England is paying we could be in the kacky poo.

[CCFCC3PO]

Wales to 'take advantage' of any UK antibody deal
Dr Goodall says he is hopeful Wales could take advantage of any deal on antibody testing brokered by the UK government.

He said officials in Wales would be involved in UK-wide discussions later this afternoon and he was sure there would be an announcement on the matter in due course.

He welcomed progress on the development of a possible antibody test but reminded the public that a positive antibody test would not mean that individuals had immunity from the virus.

The test, which finds out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past, has been approved by health officials in England.

He said: “First of all there is a need to check and validate any testing regime to make sure that the accuracy is there that is necessary, and secondly, there would need to be a commercial arrangement in place to deploy that.

"Hopefully we can take advantage of a UK deal in place for that if it comes through.”

That's a worrying sentence in the light of other things. But if the government is paying for it from treasury funds then it should be for all of UK. If NHS England is paying we could be in the kacky poo.

Let's wait for the announcements before getting our knickers in a twist.

[goats]

The deal is likely to be UK wide.

Drakeford will balls it up somehow

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Drakeford will balls it up somehow

Drakeford is the new Dave Jones....

[Lord Dargavel]

No it isn’t. Quite the opposite.

[xsnaggle]

“Public Health England said the antibody test, developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, was a "very positive development".


This is same company with whom the WAG had signed contract for PPE

Will this test be for England only?

Will we have to wait until them down the Bay decide that we need a separate contract only to be gazumped by Mozambique who offered more £

And then we find we can’t get any until December at the earliest

The same company that said no such contract existed and asked WAG to produce it, it which they never did.

[Lord Dargavel]

The deal is likely to be UK wide.

No it isn’t. Quite the opposite.