6 ms·

I was pretty sure I had COVID in November '20. Everyone else in my household had it, and we didn't isolate from each other really stringently. I had a mild sore

I was pretty sure I had COVID in November '20. Everyone else in my household had it, and we didn't isolate from each other really stringently. I had a mild sore throat for a couple of days. Never got tested because I was "quarantined" anyway for the close contacts. Finally I went and got a COVID antibody test to satisfy my curiosity, which was negative on all factors. I have been supplementing vitamin D and zinc since March '20, but I'm not sure that would have prevented antibody formation if I was infected. Seems to me it would not, but that's not based on any really informed judgment.

asdff 5y ago
People still have antibodies from 2003 SARS infections, I don't think you've had COVID.
- abfan1127 5y ago
  antibody tests are really hard. his could be a false negative. further, he could have had it, but without antibodies. or he might have had something else.
  - renewiltord 5y ago
    If he didn’t have antibodies then how did he ever recover? Surely the thing doesn’t just burn itself out. Without anything to fight it, won’t it just continually infect him?
    - abfan1127 5y ago
      some people are recovering through other responses, including t-cell response, etc. I don't have the academic experience, the clinic experience, or his specific medical history, so I can't speak specifically. I do recall lots of papers at the beginning of Covid talking about high t-cell responses in patients without a lingering anti-body response. That all could have been early science based on poor data as well though.
      - peter422 5y ago
        Based on the information provided it seems highly unlikely the OP had covid. It isn't impossible but the lack of antibodies is just one further data point. Most people who recover have positive antibody tests.
    - nradov 5y ago
      There are two basic immune systems: innate and adaptive. In some cases the innate immune system clears the infection before the adaptive immune system produces detectible levels of antibodies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innate_immune_system?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innate_immune_system?wprov=sfl...
      - renewiltord 5y ago
        Sorry, I'm aware of that in general. I was wondering in this case. I suppose that's possible for people who don't fall sick (I assume that's why low viral load means you can get exposed and not get sick?) but OP was quite sick.
      - simonh 5y ago
        I think it’s unlikely that’s it for someone seriously ill for an extended period.
  - passivate 5y ago
    >antibody tests are really hard. Are you referring to the quantitative side? You can simply buy the antibody standard and sVNT test kit from Genscript. You can get a 96 test kit for under $3k. We have it and it works quite well.
    - abfan1127 5y ago
      the general concept of antibody tests. Antibodies have serious dilution. Detection is a challenging problem. Many antibody tests (ex. measles) has a pretty high (in my unqualified opinion) false negative rate. Its a tough problem to solve in general. a single paper discussing false reports - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14574997/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14574997/
      - passivate 5y ago
        Well, let me first state the obvious - no test anywhere is perfect. But when it comes to antibody tests you have to be a bit more specific and discuss the underlying technology and method of detection. For e.g. there are 1129 diagnostic products for covid, and not all of them are identical. There are many reasons for false-negatives and some could be specific to the product being used. The paper you linked to is not about COVID19, its from 2003 and also its scope is not a general review of antibody tests. Its an investigation into false-positives with a specific underlying autoimmune disease possibly masking the result. I am not familiar with this study to speak in any great detail. https://www.finddx.org/covid-19/pipeline/ https://www.finddx.org/covid-19/pipeline/
- the-rc 5y ago
  I was in a study. My IgG titer went up to 960, when I gave plasma twice, then 7-8 months after the infection it was below the 80 threshold to be considered positive. The weird thing was that six months in, I got tested for IgM and I was positive for that as well, which might been a sign of a second exposure. I know others in the same study who were negative a few weeks after being positive. So it might depend on the person and the test.
driverdan 5y ago
> I have been supplementing vitamin D and zinc since March '20, but I'm not sure that would have prevented antibody formation if I was infected. First, there's no scientific basis for doing so. Unless your diet is deficient of zinc or you're spending months in an overcast winter environment neither is going to do anything for you. They certainly won't have any impact on antibody formation.
- andruby 5y ago
  42% of the US population has a vitamin D deficiency [0]. In the HN population, that number might even be higher (extrapolating my experience with tech workers and the hours they spend outside). I would encourage most people here to have their Vitamin D levels checked and take supplements, especially in the winter months. [0] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21310306/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21310306/
  - faeyanpiraat 5y ago
    Most doctors I’ve met agreed with this. Also certain diets could have other deficiencies, like in my case I almost never eat fish so I add omega3 (DHA).
  - driverdan 5y ago
    I agree, if it's likely your deficient you should get tested and supplement as necessary. That's my point. It should be done as part of evidence based medicine and not a random thing you decide to do with no supporting evidence.
    - nradov 5y ago
      Ideally everyone should get periodic vitamin D level tests, and then adjust their diet, sun exposure, and supplementation accordingly. But unfortunately it's just not practical to test everyone. And also we know that a large fraction of the population is deficient, and that moderate supplement doses are generally safe. So routine supplementation is justified for most of us on an evidence based medicine basis.
- 5y ago
nradov 5y ago
The antibody tests do occasionally come up negative for patients who had confirmed infections. You might want to get the Adaptive Biotechnologies T-Detect COVID test which assays memory T cells. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-adaptive-biotechnologies-t-detect-covid-test https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavi...
shusaku 5y ago
I’m actually surprised that I don’t hear more “I thought I had COVID in 2019, took an antibody test, and was right” anecdotes. Especially if the false positive rate on these tests is significant.

asdff 5y ago

People still have antibodies from 2003 SARS infections, I don't think you've had COVID.

abfan1127 5y ago
antibody tests are really hard. his could be a false negative. further, he could have had it, but without antibodies. or he might have had something else.
- renewiltord 5y ago
  If he didn’t have antibodies then how did he ever recover? Surely the thing doesn’t just burn itself out. Without anything to fight it, won’t it just continually infect him?
  - abfan1127 5y ago
    some people are recovering through other responses, including t-cell response, etc. I don't have the academic experience, the clinic experience, or his specific medical history, so I can't speak specifically. I do recall lots of papers at the beginning of Covid talking about high t-cell responses in patients without a lingering anti-body response. That all could have been early science based on poor data as well though.
    - peter422 5y ago
      Based on the information provided it seems highly unlikely the OP had covid. It isn't impossible but the lack of antibodies is just one further data point. Most people who recover have positive antibody tests.
  - nradov 5y ago
    There are two basic immune systems: innate and adaptive. In some cases the innate immune system clears the infection before the adaptive immune system produces detectible levels of antibodies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innate_immune_system?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innate_immune_system?wprov=sfl...
    - renewiltord 5y ago
      Sorry, I'm aware of that in general. I was wondering in this case. I suppose that's possible for people who don't fall sick (I assume that's why low viral load means you can get exposed and not get sick?) but OP was quite sick.
    - simonh 5y ago
      I think it’s unlikely that’s it for someone seriously ill for an extended period.
- passivate 5y ago
  >antibody tests are really hard. Are you referring to the quantitative side? You can simply buy the antibody standard and sVNT test kit from Genscript. You can get a 96 test kit for under $3k. We have it and it works quite well.
  - abfan1127 5y ago
    the general concept of antibody tests. Antibodies have serious dilution. Detection is a challenging problem. Many antibody tests (ex. measles) has a pretty high (in my unqualified opinion) false negative rate. Its a tough problem to solve in general. a single paper discussing false reports - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14574997/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14574997/
    - passivate 5y ago
      Well, let me first state the obvious - no test anywhere is perfect. But when it comes to antibody tests you have to be a bit more specific and discuss the underlying technology and method of detection. For e.g. there are 1129 diagnostic products for covid, and not all of them are identical. There are many reasons for false-negatives and some could be specific to the product being used. The paper you linked to is not about COVID19, its from 2003 and also its scope is not a general review of antibody tests. Its an investigation into false-positives with a specific underlying autoimmune disease possibly masking the result. I am not familiar with this study to speak in any great detail. https://www.finddx.org/covid-19/pipeline/ https://www.finddx.org/covid-19/pipeline/
the-rc 5y ago
I was in a study. My IgG titer went up to 960, when I gave plasma twice, then 7-8 months after the infection it was below the 80 threshold to be considered positive. The weird thing was that six months in, I got tested for IgM and I was positive for that as well, which might been a sign of a second exposure. I know others in the same study who were negative a few weeks after being positive. So it might depend on the person and the test.

driverdan 5y ago

> I have been supplementing vitamin D and zinc since March '20, but I'm not sure that would have prevented antibody formation if I was infected. First, there's no scientific basis for doing so. Unless your diet is deficient of zinc or you're spending months in an overcast winter environment neither is going to do anything for you. They certainly won't have any impact on antibody formation.

andruby 5y ago
42% of the US population has a vitamin D deficiency [0]. In the HN population, that number might even be higher (extrapolating my experience with tech workers and the hours they spend outside). I would encourage most people here to have their Vitamin D levels checked and take supplements, especially in the winter months. [0] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21310306/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21310306/
- faeyanpiraat 5y ago
  Most doctors I’ve met agreed with this. Also certain diets could have other deficiencies, like in my case I almost never eat fish so I add omega3 (DHA).
- driverdan 5y ago
  I agree, if it's likely your deficient you should get tested and supplement as necessary. That's my point. It should be done as part of evidence based medicine and not a random thing you decide to do with no supporting evidence.
  - nradov 5y ago
    Ideally everyone should get periodic vitamin D level tests, and then adjust their diet, sun exposure, and supplementation accordingly. But unfortunately it's just not practical to test everyone. And also we know that a large fraction of the population is deficient, and that moderate supplement doses are generally safe. So routine supplementation is justified for most of us on an evidence based medicine basis.
5y ago

nradov 5y ago

The antibody tests do occasionally come up negative for patients who had confirmed infections. You might want to get the Adaptive Biotechnologies T-Detect COVID test which assays memory T cells. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-adaptive-biotechnologies-t-detect-covid-test https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavi...

shusaku 5y ago

I’m actually surprised that I don’t hear more “I thought I had COVID in 2019, took an antibody test, and was right” anecdotes. Especially if the false positive rate on these tests is significant.