MAY 28, 2020
Antibody tests for COVID-19 wrong up to half the time, CDC says
Antibody tests used to determine if people have been infected in the past with COVID-19 might be wrong up to one-half of the time, CDC said in new guidance. The tests are not accurate enough to use to make important policy decisions, according to CDC.
Antibody tests used to determine if people have been infected in the past with COVID-19 might be wrong up to one-half of the time, CDC said in new guidance. The tests are not accurate enough to use to make important policy decisions, according to CDC. Health officials or health care providers who are using antibody tests need to use the most accurate test they can find and might need to test people twice, CDC said in the guidance. "In most of the country, including areas that have been heavily impacted, the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody is expected to be low, ranging from less than 5% to 25%, so that testing at this point might result in relatively more false positive results and fewer false-negative results," CDC said. The higher the sensitivity, the fewer false negatives a test will give. The higher the specificity, the fewer false positives. Across populations, tests give more accurate results if the disease being tested for is common in the population. There is little evidence now about whether having been infected gives people immunity to later infection, but doctors worry that people will behave as if they are immune if they get a positive antibody test. "It cannot be assumed that individuals with truly positive antibody test results are protected from future infection," CDC said in the updated guidelines
.
This along with surface contamination mixed signals,
WTF is anyone supposed to believe from CDC?
Antibody tests for COVID-19 wrong up to half the time, CDC says
Antibody tests used to determine if people have been infected in the past with COVID-19 might be wrong up to one-half of the time, CDC said in new guidance. The tests are not accurate enough to use to make important policy decisions, according to CDC.
Antibody tests used to determine if people have been infected in the past with COVID-19 might be wrong up to one-half of the time, CDC said in new guidance. The tests are not accurate enough to use to make important policy decisions, according to CDC. Health officials or health care providers who are using antibody tests need to use the most accurate test they can find and might need to test people twice, CDC said in the guidance. "In most of the country, including areas that have been heavily impacted, the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody is expected to be low, ranging from less than 5% to 25%, so that testing at this point might result in relatively more false positive results and fewer false-negative results," CDC said. The higher the sensitivity, the fewer false negatives a test will give. The higher the specificity, the fewer false positives. Across populations, tests give more accurate results if the disease being tested for is common in the population. There is little evidence now about whether having been infected gives people immunity to later infection, but doctors worry that people will behave as if they are immune if they get a positive antibody test. "It cannot be assumed that individuals with truly positive antibody test results are protected from future infection," CDC said in the updated guidelines
.
This along with surface contamination mixed signals,
WTF is anyone supposed to believe from CDC?
