The WHO (World Health Organization) has warned about the coronavirus antibody tests, stating that they can’t prove whether a person gained immunity or if it can’t get reinfected.
According to Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, a person showing antibodies is not necessarily immune to the virus, which again confirms the scientists’ doubts about the accuracy of antibody coronavirus tests.
Detecting the correct number of infected people is extremely difficult due to the lack of testing in many countries and undetected cases.
Antibody tests in the U.S. are starting to roll out now. The Government is finally taking advanced measures in combating the pandemic that infected 671,000 people in the United States so far.
At a press conference in Geneva (the headquarters of WHO), Kerkhove said that they have no evidence of antibody tests showing if a person is immune to the virus or not. Nevertheless, the new tests suppose to show the level of antibodies in individuals that suffered from COVID-19.
WHO’s emergency program executive director, Dr. Mike Ryan, confirmed that nobody can tell with certainty if antibodies can protect a person against the virus or prevent the reinfection. A false-negative result is another issue that Dr. Ryan mentioned, concerned about the suspicious sensitivity of the antibody tests.
WHO’s officials also said that not all of the people who were infected by coronavirus have antibodies. A second infection in these cases is not excluded.
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