The theme of antibody testing becomes increasingly popular these days. Among the reasons – spreading of delta variant of coronavirus, a tangible increase in the number of cases, new limitations, increase in demand for vaccination and the desire to learn if it is time to get vaccinated after suffering coronavirus or if the vaccination was efficient.
These seem to be reasonable questions. However, the World Health Organization suggests not relying on antibody level while deciding on whether to get vaccinated or not. It says that the tests are not 100% trustworthy, they cannot reliably confirm that the identified antibodies are neutralizing, that is, they can prevent the body from being damaged by the coronavirus. So, the recommendation is simple: don’t bother about the level of antibodies, just get vaccinated.
Probably there is much truth in it. The desire of medical organizations and authorities to stimulate the widest possible layers of the population to vaccinate is understandable. Vaccination is indeed the most important element in the formation of herd immunity. When a significant proportion of the population are anti-vacine people, it is important to make people to weed out doubts faster and get vaccinated.
However the desire of inquisitive minds to find answers to the questions posed is also understandable. Let the antibody test not be 100% indicative, even if not 50%. It is still the best available indicator of the degree of protection of the body against the effects of coronavirus. Besides safety issues, apparently the antibody titer is one of the most important factors while choosing a vaccine.
The quantitative indicator shows the number of antibodies in 1 ml of blood. Any quantitative antibody test system shows your level of antibodies as well as the reference value. If your level of antibidies is less that the reference value, the result is negative, your level is either inexistent or insufficient. If above, the result is positive, the level is sufficient, but the question is: sufficient for what?
Therefore, in the absence of other more reliable methods, you should not discourage people from undergoing antibody testing, but pay more attention to finding more reliable ways to determine the degree of protection of the body from COVID.