Tag Archives: Coronavirus serological test

Yes, I had the coronavirus – the serological test and WIM

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A few weeks ago I wrote a post about taking the quick Covid finger prick test only to find out, to my surprise, that I had never had the virus (see post here). Last week I had the serological test (where you have blood taken) and found out that not only had I had Covid and passed it a while back, but that I also now have a high level of antibodies. Go figure. More than anything I had been surprised with the quick test as I was convinced that the symptoms I had back in mid-March were related. I had completely lost my sense of smell/taste and also had a really bad cough for a full week (click here for more about my covid experience).

I’ve learned quite a bit more about the different types of tests and also about the low reliability of the quick tests since then. My recommendation would be to either take the serological test or the PCR if you’re in doubt. In my case my work paid for the test and provided it on-site since it will be a requirement for anyone to go back to the office.

I consider myself a pretty intelligent person, but when I received the test results, it wasn’t very intuitive, and I was surprised that the report didn’t come with any sort of “instructions” to interpret it. Finally I found a guide to understand my IgM (-) and IgG (+) results. So, in case this is helpful, here’s a guide that I used:

 

Click to access Pruebas_disponibles_COVID-19.pdf

 

WIM –  to be honest I’m not exactly sure what my results mean since it’s not at all clear that having antibodies really is an indicator of immunity, but I guess it’s better to have them than not. Also, I’d love to know whether my results mean that I could help others by donating blood. Surprisingly there’s no indicator of this either or any easy way to find out if I could help others. All I know is that being positive for antibodies is a score of 1 or more, and I had 105…

Screenshot 2020-06-16 at 22.39.36

If anyone knows more about this I’d love to hear!

 

 

 

Coronavirus – my antibody test experience

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Yesterday I took the coronavirus serological test with a surprise result – negative, meaning that either (a) I haven’t had the virus or (b) I don’t have antibodies. I was quite surprised after my experience in mid-March (see: My COVID-19 experience: complete loss of smell and taste). I had been completely convinced that I had had the virus, and to be honest, I’m still sure that what I experienced was 100% related to COVID. It doesn’t make any sense otherwise as it was such a strange experience and completely aligned with all the stories coming out in the news. Apparently from what I’ve heard some people who had only symptoms like this also didn’t develop antibodies. In any case it seems like I’ve been walking around with a false sense of security for some time now!

The test itself was simple, just a quick finger prick and then waiting for up to 20 minutes for the results. It looked just like a pregnancy test:

Covid Serological test

The only difference was that yesterday I was hoping for and expecting a positive result.

I’ve also heard that these tests aren’t completely reliable, but I also don’t see the need to go running around town looking to repeat. In the end all it will really tell me is if I had the virus or not, but the question of immunity is still uncertain. In any case all very interesting. Also, forgot to mention that the tests are manufactured in China.