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Any PSer tested for Covid antibody ?

Asscherhalo_lover

Ideal_Rock
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They tested me when I was pregnant to see if I had had it. I'm the end I paid a $10 copay.
 

kenny

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Why bother?
I'm not aware of any reason to get myself tested.
If you test negative you could contract the virus 2 minutes later just by breathing air, so why bother?

I'll spend that $42 on N95 masks.
 
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MrsBlue

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I thought I did. I paid out of pocket $100.

Back when I got tested, they told me the rapid test with the nasal swab was an antibody test. This is false, The rapid nasal swab test is actually an antigen test and shows up positive only if you have lots of virus hanging out in your nose at the time you get tested. I was tested months after I had recovered so my test was negative.

My covid was never confirmed and I can only assume that I had it judging by how sick I was for 3 weeks, the lingering exhaustion, and the fact that my sense of smell is still gone.
 

lissyflo

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Yes. I’m in a U.K. government study and have my antibodies tested monthly as part of a national sample to help estimate national immunity and the waning of protection of vaccination over time.
 
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doberman

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I had a test for antibodies done back in Dec or so, and it was (-). But I got my first vax late in Dec and the next in Jan.
 

Tartansparkles

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Yes. I’m in a U.K. government study and have my antibodies tested monthly as part of a national sample to help estimate national immunity and the waning of protection of vaccination over time.

My parents and in-laws are also part of a national scheme (the name is something like UK Biodome?) so it could be the same scheme. Interestingly of the three people I know who are all double vaccinated and taking part in the antibody testing, only 2 came back as having antibodies so I believe it's a good idea to be testing and researching on a national basis. (The scheme my parents are part of is much broader than Covid and aims to track anonymous medical info across broad groups of the population).
 

lissyflo

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My parents and in-laws are also part of a national scheme (the name is something like UK Biodome?) so it could be the same scheme. Interestingly of the three people I know who are all double vaccinated and taking part in the antibody testing, only 2 came back as having antibodies so I believe it's a good idea to be testing and researching on a national basis. (The scheme my parents are part of is much broader than Covid and aims to track anonymous medical info across broad groups of the population).

I definitely agree on the testing front: I wish it was policy to test antibodies after the second jab so that people could have, say, an early booster or a third shot if 2 jabs haven’t stimulated a response. Was the person who hadn’t responded advised to do anything extra re vaccination do you know, or is a failure on the vaccines factored in to the target national vaccination % coverage? It must be an interesting, if frustrating, job tracking health markers at such a big picture level!
 

rainydaze

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One of my kids was tested for the antibodies because she has an autoimmune disorder and is on immuno-suppressing medications (remicaid and methotrexate). She tested positive.

We have a message in to her doctor to see if we can get more information than just 'positive' as I would like to have some quantitative information on just *how* protected she is. Sure, she could have antibodies but if the amount is low we may move forward differently than if her antibody count is on the high end.
 

Tartansparkles

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I definitely agree on the testing front: I wish it was policy to test antibodies after the second jab so that people could have, say, an early booster or a third shot if 2 jabs haven’t stimulated a response. Was the person who hadn’t responded advised to do anything extra re vaccination do you know, or is a failure on the vaccines factored in to the target national vaccination % coverage? It must be an interesting, if frustrating, job tracking health markers at such a big picture level!

With the study the parents are participating in, they dab a sample of blood onto a 'thing' which gives them a result (positive or negative) for antibodies and then they submit the results online. There's no interaction between the subjects and the data gatherers (their study/project has been running for years and it's purely anonymous data gathering) so, no, no advice was given. It was raised with the family Dr who was a bit noncommittal - but I'm not sure what course of action would have been the correct one to recommend. All 3 are in their mid seventies so will be first in the list for the booster program.
 

Austina

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Both DH & I had tests earlier in the year because we‘d both had Covid like symptoms, so did friends of ours, but they all came back negative for antibodies.
 

Dancing Fire

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Why bother?
I'm not aware of any reason to get myself tested.
If you test negative you could contract the virus 2 minutes later just by breathing air, so why bother?

I'll spend that $42 on N95 masks.

If you are vaccinated shouldn't it come back +? . Wouldn't you like to know?
 

m-cubed

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The Red Cross was testing all donations for COVID antibodies for a period of time. I was giving blood regularly from when the pandemic started until about 3 months ago. I was vaccinated in Feb/March. My antibody result was negative until the first donation after vaccination. The Red Cross tests for two types of antibodies. I had antibodies to spike protein (expected because the vaccines make spike or parts of spike, so you raise antibodies against it), but not for nucleocapsid protein, meaning I did not have a natural infection which would have exposed me to other viral proteins.

The Red Cross is no longer conducting this testing. I’ll admit it was a thrill to get that result soon after vaccination and know that my immune system was reacting properly to the vaccine.
 

kenny

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If you are vaccinated shouldn't it come back +? . Wouldn't you like to know?
No.
Again, why bother?

AFAIC getting vaccinated is the only thing that matters.
If I'm wrong I welcome hearing why I should get an antibody test.

If it's just to satisfy curiosity, then Pfffft.
 

Dancing Fire

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No.
Again, why bother?

AFAIC getting vaccinated is the only thing that matters.
If I'm wrong I welcome hearing why I should get an antibody test.

If it's just to satisfy curiosity, then Pfffft.

To be sure the vaccine is still effective after 6 months?
 

lilmosun

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To be sure the vaccine is still effective after 6 months?

My understanding is that a covid anitbody test does not indicate level of immunity for anyone -and- that a covid vaccination will trigger a positive result for some antibody tests, but not all (depending on what the test is looking for in its determination).
 

rainydaze

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My understanding is that a covid anitbody test does not indicate level of immunity for anyone -and- that a covid vaccination will trigger a positive result for some antibody tests, but not all (depending on what the test is looking for in its determination).

That seems to be the information we were given as well. Our child's doctor ended up giving us the titre number, however it was not accompanied by any explanation. DH chatted with a friend who is a doctor and he said that the number really doesn't matter. The same number will mean different things in different people. The only helpful information is to know that a person tested positive for antibodies, which indicates their immune system responded to the vaccine and has the ability to offer some protection against the virus.
 

Dancing Fire

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My understanding is that a covid anitbody test does not indicate level of immunity for anyone -and- that a covid vaccination will trigger a positive result for some antibody tests, but not all (depending on what the test is looking for in its determination).
Shouldn't all vaccinated people test positive? :confused:
 

lilmosun

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Shouldn't all vaccinated people test positive? :confused:

Not necessarily. My understanding is that it depends on the type of test.

Unlike some vaccines which give you a low dose of a virus, the Covid vaccines do not...I am not familiar with all the vaccines, but many just trigger your body to create antibodies against the spike protein which is just one characteristic of Covid.

Here is an article that I saw explain it in layman's terms:


A vaccinated person is very likely to get a negative result from a serology test, even if the vaccine was successful and protective. That’s because different serology tests detect antibodies to different parts of the virus.

Some tests detect antibodies to the spike protein of the virus, which are produced in response to viral infection or the vaccine. Others detect antibodies to a different part of the virus called the nucleocapsid protein, which are produced in response to infection, but not by the current vaccines.
 
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