India to start antibody tests on people to detect COVID-19 exposure
India is set to begin antibody tests for COVID-19 to find out whether a person could have been infected earlier with the virus and may have remained asymptomatic.
India is set to begin antibody tests for COVID-19 to find out whether a person could have been infected earlier with the virus and may have remained asymptomatic.
These tests are expected to help understand the spread of COVID-19 better and analyse ways to control it.
Antibody tests, which are better known as serological tests looks for antibodies in the blood. However, it is different from the current, diagnostic tests that determine whether a person is infected by the virus, through nasal or throat swabs.
Serological tests will allow doctors to determine if a person was previously infected with the virus, based on the presence of antibodies in the blood, and to also figure out if the person had been asymptomatic.
“This is not a confirmatory test. The serological test is for the purpose of surveillance to generate data and understand whether people got exposed to the virus,” The Economic Times quoted Randeep Guleria, chairman of an expert committee formed to review the testing strategy for COVID-19 as saying.
The committee was formed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Experts said these serological tests will allow scientists to trace and identify people who could be infected and understand how the virus behaves better.
“This could be used on a mass scale in the community as a specific test for COVID-19 at a very affordable price,” said Harsh Mahajan, founder of Mahajan Imaging Centre, according to The Economic Times.
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Experts asserted that antibodies would not always pick up early viral infections, but that they could identify if a person had ever had a specific kind virus — in this case, the coronavirus — probably even if they were asymptomatic. This is said to invaluable for surveillance and investigational purposes.
The high-level committee is also considering conducting serology tests for those who came in contact with people who tested positive for COVID-19. An expert who wished to remain anonymous told The Economic Times, “It will allow us to trace who has had the infection in a much more population-based way, the population that was mildly infected and recovered, and the pattern of the infection.”
The ICMR has estimated that they would require at least 1 million test kits for the entire nations. They have also invited bids on Wednesday (March 25) for the 10 1 million antibody kits.
“Some kits from Korea have already been sent for evaluation and validation to National Institute of Virology in Pune,” said another expert.
