Why are antibody tests important?

Not everyone who has been infected with coronavirus develops symptoms severe enough to go to the doctor. And not everyone gets tested. You want to know if you’ve already been infected with corona?

If you have already been infected with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, you carry so-called IgG antibodies. These antibodies can be detected in your blood. This gives you an indication of whether you have already been through COVID-19 and are therefore probably immune to further infection (100% scientific statements on this are not yet available, but it is assumed).

Researchers find it difficult to estimate how many people have actually been infected. With an antibody test, a rough dark figure can be determined and thus the spread of the virus can be better tracked. This can be an important factor, for example, in deciding whether contact restrictions and other measures can be relaxed.

Caution there are two different antibodies that can be tested – namely IgG (indicating past COVID-19) and IgM (indicating acute infection). At the moment, only IgG tests provide valid results.