COVID-19 IgG/IgM antibody testing in Los Angeles County, California
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COVID-19 IgG/IgM antibody testing in Los Angeles County, California Khadije Ahmad 1 & Vahid Rezvanizadeh 1 & Suraj Dahal 1 & April Kinninger 1 & Ahmed K. Ghanem 1 & Suvasini Lakshmanan 1 & Sajad Hamal 1 & Ferdinand Flores 1 & Christopher Dailing 1 & Sion K. Roy 1 & Matthew J. Budoff 1 Received: 28 August 2020 / Accepted: 20 November 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Evidence suggests that asymptomatic and mild SARS-CoV-2 infections comprise > 95% of all cases. Developing a test that indicates past infection and possible immunity against the virus is important. We administered 244 antibody tests to three groups of high-risk population. The test consisted of an IgG component and an IgM component. The overall IgM/IgG positivity for patients with none, mild, moderate, and severe symptoms were 21.1%, 21.8%, 14.2%, and 26.9%, respectively. Those with moderate or severe symptoms were no more or less likely to have positive antibody tests than those with no or mild symptoms. Keywords antibodies . coronavirus . COVID-19 . IgG . IgM . testing
The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or COVID-19 has presented a substantial threat to healthcare system all over the world. Many countries have initially declared restrictive measures, such as lockdown or stay-at-home orders, in an attempt to contain the pandemic at the local level by reducing individual contact. Now, the world has already started exiting the lockdown, including the USA, while the number of confirmed cases rises. Based on the WHO latest COVID-19 report as of end of July 2020, there are over 16,600,000 confirmed cases worldwide, out of which more than 4,400,000 cases are in the USA. But this report does not include the COVID-19 cases with little to no symptoms that never got tested or confirmed positive. According to Takahashi et.al., evidence suggests that asymptomatic and mild SARS-CoV-2 infections together comprise > 95% of all COVID-19 infections [1]. The RT-PCR test remains the gold standard and most accurate test to diagnose active COVID-19. But as this test provides no information on past infections, developing a test that can identify past exposure and possible established immunity against the virus is very important. Such a test may be helpful in supporting the exit from lockdown or identifying people who could return to their on-site jobs, or * Matthew J. Budoff [email protected] 1
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, 1124 W Carson Street, Torrance, CA 90502, USA
those who might be ready to handle a job that is of higher exposure [2]; this comes through serology testing, also known as antibody testing. A serology test looks for the presence of antibodies, which are specific proteins made in response to infections. Antibodies are known to be specific, which means that an antibody is able to recognize, bind to, and destroy specific antigen only. This feature allows the using of antibodi
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