MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – Other states like New York are now using antibody testing to find residents who may have had COVID-19 without being formally confirmed as positive cases.
Those tests reportedly show about one in five New York City residents may have had the virus. Out of 3,000 tests – roughly 13.9 percent of New Yorkers have the antibodies for COVID-19, with that number hitting 21.2 percent for New York City residents. But Wisconsin isn’t nearly as densely populated, so those numbers may not be quite as high here in the Badger State.
Either way – testing for COVID antibodies may be a helpful way to track down people who have had the virus.
“It’s an important topic and there’s a lot of interest in the idea that we can understand who has been infected with antibody tests,” says Bureau of Infectious Disease Dr. Ryan Westergaard, “The science is catching up to the promise. As of right now, there’s a large number of products that can detect antibodies – but not very well and they haven’t been approved.”
Right now, Westergaard believes the tests that have not been federally approved will not be useful for diagnosing potential cases in Wisconsin. While the state has enough active labs to analyze nearly 11,000 tests daily, there are no plans to convert any to antibody testing.
“We’re actively planning it, but the technology isn’t at a state right now where it would be highly useful information,” Westergaard says.
Westergaard explains that the state needs to use tests that specifically detect the virus itself, rather than antibodies.
“There are still questions about precision, about cross-reacting with other viruses that cause the common cold. There’s a lot of caveats right now, but there’s a lot of promise that’s going to help us really understand the size and spread of the epidemic down the road,” Westergaard tells WTAQ News, “More highly reliable tests are starting to become available. And when they are, I think the biggest use for them is going to be epidemiology – to understand that question of how many people have been infected…In the state, we’re interested in doing this on a survey basis to understand it on a population level.”
So while antibody testing will not be used in Wisconsin yet, it can likely be expected to be implemented once COVID-19 case growth has dropped and more reliable tests are approved and available.
For more information about serological antibody testing for COVID-19, you can read a Food and Drug Administration letter to health care providers here.
