3 ms·
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but rt-PCR can only detect active SARS-Cov-2 shedding - meaning active disease, whereas immuno-assays check for the existence of
by beagle3 7y ago
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but rt-PCR can only detect active SARS-Cov-2 shedding - meaning active disease, whereas immuno-assays check for the existence of antibodies.
A SARS-Cov-2 naive person will be negative to both; early on, rt-PCR will be positive[0] and immunoassay will be negative; then (if and when the immune system manages to synthesize the right antibodies) they will both be positive; then the virus is eradicated so rt-PCR will go negative, but the immunoassay will stay positive (for a while; unknown yet if for life)
[0] Assuming perfect accuracy and specificity.
- johnohara 7y agoI agree with your reply. Thank you for it. The recent seroprevalence study performed in Santa Clara County [0] [1] used an immunoassay manufactured by Premier BioTech, Minneapolis, MN. Their page entitled "PCR And Serology Based Testing Explained" does a very good job explaining what we both understand [2]. I stand by my opinion that it is unrealistic to use RT-PCR testing on the entire U.S. population. It is too sensitive and too time-consuming given the time constraints we are under. This Wash Post article (printed by MSN) describes why the CDC had to recall its initial testing kits. [3] [0] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.14.20062463v1 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.14.20062463v... [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22899272 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22899272 [2] https://premierbiotech.com/innovation/pcr-and-serology-based-testing-explained/ https://premierbiotech.com/innovation/pcr-and-serology-based... [3] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/contamination-at-cdc-lab-delayed-rollout-of-coronavirus-tests/ar-BB12Q90W https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/contamination-at-cdc-lab-d...