Schafer Medical Center

800 Isabel St SW

Ardmore, OK  73401

(580) 223-5432

Schafer Medical Center

800 Isabel St SW

Ardmore, OK  73401

(580) 223-5432

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COVID-19 Information

COVID-19

Information About Antibody Testing - Things you may want to know about COVID-19 antibody testing – ARCpoint Labs states “What You Need to Know - Antibody testing in COVID-19 is different from viral RNA testing. Instead of showing who is currently ill, antibody testing gives essential information about who was ill in the past and has recovered. Emerging research suggests that specialized white blood cells (antibodies) made to combat COVID-19 may persist for years, making recovered people non-infectious to others and non susceptible to becoming ill again. (Prompetchara et al 2020) THE COVID-19 ANTIBODY TEST DOES NOT DIAGNOSE THE COVID-19 RNA VIRUS!

While MedicineNet says, “The test could help scientists fight the pandemic in several ways. It can give researchers a more accurate measure of how many people had the new coronavirus. It would also let health care workers who were ill with COVID-19 symptoms, but were never tested for the disease, return to work -- confident that they are now immune.”

BioSpace tells us this:  “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first blood test that looks for the antibodies against the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. This is different than assays that test for presence of the virus—those test to determine if a patient has COVID-19. These new antibody tests determine if the person was exposed to the virus, had COVID-19 and recovered. And it suggests, if positive, that the person is now immune to COVID-19 and can’t get it again.  The test is performed on a blood sample taken from a patient’s vein and can be performed by laboratories certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA), the Health and Human Services division that oversees clinical diagnostic testing in the United States.”

 https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html is the most informative and accurate governmental site for COVID-19 signs & symptoms.