From Our Partners
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
News on Pathogens and Preparedness
Global Biodefense
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Global Biodefense
No Result
View All Result
Home Biodetection

UW Medicine Virology Lab Will Test for Past Infections of New Coronavirus

by Global Biodefense Staff
April 17, 2020
UW Medicine Virology Lab Will Test for Past Infections of New Coronavirus

Greg Pepper, lab manager in the UW Medicine clinical virology lab, performs the Abbott antibody test for a past coronavirus infection on a blood sample. Credit: UW Medicine Virology

The tests are expected to improve medical understanding of the virus, including how long antibodies stay in the body and if they provide immunity.

A new clinical blood test will start being conducted at the UW Medicine Virology Lab, beginning next week, to check people for past infection with SARS-CoV-2.

The test looks for the presence of an antibody, called IgG, which people produce in fending off the pandemic coronavirus.  The antibody first appears several days or longer after a person contracts the virus, even in those who never had symptoms or had just mild to moderate respiratory illness.

“There are people who say, for example,  ‘I was pretty sick back in February. Could I have had COVID-19? back then?’” said Dr. Keith Jerome, professor of laboratory medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Nasal swabbing screens for a present infection, but can’t indicate whether someone had the infection in the past and recovered.  The antibody blood test can. It is done via venous blood draw.  While it is not a rapid, finger-prick test, once the specimen arrives at lab, it can be analyzed promptly.

The virology lab is receiving shipments of this Abbott laboratory test for clinical use.  The tests are expected to improve medical understanding of the virus, including how long antibodies stay in the body and if they provide immunity. This knowledge could support the development of treatments and vaccines.  The appearance of certain antibodies in the blood could become one of the markers that an experimental vaccine is conferring resistance to the infection.

Earlier, the UW Medicine Virology lab helped Abbott evaluate the performance of its viral assays and how best to use them. They compared blood samples from confirmed cases with samples taken for other reasons before the new coronavirus emerged. The assay was found to be highly sensitive for antibodies to SARS-Cov-2, and also highly specific. It could spot a past infection with this new coronavirus and not confuse it with other viruses, including other respiratory coronaviruses.

The widespread availability of tests for immunity to the pandemic coronavirus could be vital to the re-opening of businesses and schools and return of workers. Compiling results can also reveal how prevalent the pandemic has been in certain localities or popular. 

Among the researchers who worked on evaluating the Abbott antibody test was Dr. Alex Greninger, assistant professor of laboratory medicine in its virology division. The offering of this new test is another major achievement during this pandemic for UW Medicine Virology.  Soon after cases requiring hospitalization in Washington state appeared, Greninger was instrumental in obtaining FDA approval for his team’s laboratory-based test of nasal swabs to diagnose active cases of COVID-19 at UW Medicine labs, instead of waiting for results from distant labs.

Patients will be able to obtain the new antibody blood test through an order from their healthcare provider.  Nurses in employee health centers eventually may be able to request testing for members of their workforce, and the test may eventually become part available through certain public health programs.

Jerome described the advent of high-performance antibody tests as another positive turning point in the pandemic. This advance, he said, is similar to the milestones reached in new options for testing for the presence of the disease and successes in flattening the curve of new cases in some places through public health measures. 

The hope is now that the next milestones on the path to stemming the pandemic will be reached: greater access to testing, effective treatments, preventatives and vaccines.

“We are looking forward to the days when people start going back to work and enjoying their social lives again,” he said.

Information for clinicians about ordering an antibody test for a patient or collecting and submitting a venous blood sample is available at the UW Medicine Virology website.

From Our Partners
Tags: CoronavirusCOVID-19Editor PickRapid DiagnosticsSARS-CoV-2

Related Posts

Influenza Research
Biodetection

New Way to Identify Influenza A Virus Lights Up When Specific Virus Targets are Present

June 20, 2022
NIH to Further Invest in Point-of-Care Technologies Research Network
Biodetection

NIH to Further Invest in Point-of-Care Technologies Research Network

May 10, 2022
Where is Testing Needed Most During Pandemic Surges? WVU Researchers Develop Machine Learning Prediction Tools
Biodetection

Where is Testing Needed Most During Pandemic Surges? WVU Researchers Develop Machine Learning Prediction Tools

May 6, 2022
Rapid COVID-19 PCR Test Developed at Northwestern Receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization
Biodetection

Rapid COVID-19 PCR Test Developed at Northwestern Receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization

March 19, 2022
Load More

Latest News

Poliovirus Detected in London Sewage: Response Measures Emphasize Wastewater Surveillance and Vaccination Gaps

Poliovirus Detected in London Sewage: Response Measures Emphasize Wastewater Surveillance and Vaccination Gaps

June 22, 2022
Monkeypox Diagnostics: CDC Authorizes Five Commercial Lab Companies

Monkeypox Diagnostics: CDC Authorizes Five Commercial Lab Companies

June 22, 2022
UK Health Security Agency Widens Monkeypox Vaccine Umbrella for Outbreak Control

UK Health Security Agency Widens Monkeypox Vaccine Umbrella for Outbreak Control

June 21, 2022
Influenza Research

New Way to Identify Influenza A Virus Lights Up When Specific Virus Targets are Present

June 20, 2022

Subscribe

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC