96% of the people who took the physical examination were detected with long-term COVID-19 antibodies? Should I also take the test?

Recently, many places across the country have officially announced the launch of COVID-19 antibody testing. A medical examination institution released a report that counted more than 20,000 medical examination users who participated in COVID-19 antibody testing in medical examination centers in 37 cities under the medical examination institution, indicating that about 96% of the medical examination population had long-term COVID-19 antibody IgG detected in their bodies.

What exactly is the COVID-19 antibody test? What are IgM and IgG in the antibody test? Is it necessary for you to get tested after you have tested positive? Come and find out!

1. What is the new coronavirus antibody test?

Serum antibodies refer to the corresponding specific antibodies produced by the body's immune system after the body is infected by a certain pathogen. Specific antibodies are specifically targeted at a certain pathogen and have the ability to identify and kill it.

Take the COVID-19 as an example. When a person is infected with the novel coronavirus or vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine, the immune system is stimulated and serum antibodies appear. The next time the person recognizes the novel coronavirus, the body has a certain resistance. The immune system can quickly identify and kill the virus, prevent the virus from replicating in the body, and block the virus's harm to the human body. However , as time goes by, the antibody level will gradually decrease, and then we may be infected again.

Serum antibody testing for the novel coronavirus usually includes two types of antibodies: IgM and IgG. IgM "arrives early and leaves early", which can reflect whether there is a recent infection; IgG "arrives late and lasts long", which can reflect whether there is a previous infection or serve as a reference for evaluating the effectiveness of vaccines.

2. What is the use of the new coronavirus antibody test?

For society, conducting a survey on serum antibody levels among the population can provide a scientific basis for the next adjustment of epidemic prevention and control measures and provide a reference for optimizing resource allocation.

For individuals, serum antibody testing can achieve the following purposes:

① I have not had any erection and I want to see what is wrong with me.

Every time an infectious disease breaks out, not everyone will be infected, and there will often be a group of people who remain uninfected.

There are also some people who will be latently infected in small amounts multiple times and produce antibodies. Even if these people undergo nucleic acid testing every day, they may not test positive for nucleic acid because the viral load in their bodies is low and does not meet the positive standard.

If you have not tested positive and want to know which of the above you belong to, you can find out through the new coronavirus serum antibody test. If the antibody test is positive, then you may have been latently infected.

② After being vaccinated, I want to see if I have antibodies to protect my body

Antigens can cause specific immune responses in the human body and stimulate the body to produce antibodies. Vaccines are also a type of antigen.

If you want to know whether you have antibodies to protect you after receiving the vaccine, you can refer to the method of vaccine effectiveness evaluation and conduct serum antibody testing about 14 days, 3 months, and 6 months after vaccination.

Even if the antibody level detected is low, don’t think that the vaccine is useless. Our immune system has the function of awakening, and the effect of the vaccine in preventing severe illness and death cannot be ignored.

③Already "Yangkang", want to know about the physical condition

For those who are already "healthy", testing serum antibodies can help understand their physical condition.

If the antibody level is high, congratulations, it is not dangerous for the time being. If the antibody disappears along with the fever and cough symptoms, it is time to get a booster shot 3-6 months later.

If you want to contribute to scientific research, you can actively participate in the population serum antibody survey. If you are curious and want to know whether you have produced antibodies, you can go for a test, but it is not recommended that you blindly follow the trend to test antibodies.

In addition, everyone needs to be reminded that no matter what the purpose of conducting serum antibody testing, the analysis of the results requires the participation of professionals. It is best to ask a doctor to conduct a comprehensive analysis based on symptoms or vaccination time, infection time, etc.

3. What is the difference between COVID-19 antibody testing, nucleic acid testing and antigen testing?

So, what are the differences between the nucleic acid test, antigen test and serum antibody test that we usually do? Please see the table below:

Many hospitals and social testing institutions now offer coronavirus antibody testing services, with a single price of around 20-30 yuan.

However, it should be noted that whether antibodies are produced and the amount of antibody titer cannot guarantee or indicate that we are absolutely safe. It is recommended that everyone look at it rationally. No matter what the results of the antibody test are, we still need to take protective measures.

Reference sources: Beijing News, People's Daily