A brief on antibody testing for Covid-19 in the workplace

Posted By Suborna Fermi Posted on Jul 15, 2020

Each and every person is currently well aware of Covid-19 nowadays, which has already taken the shape of a viral pandemic and claimed an uncountable number of lives all over the globe. As a matter of fact, zero number of antidotes have been introduced so far that can be considered as a complete cure, which is also one of the most concerning matters. Plasma therapy is the only potential cure at this very moment and this is the reason why an antibody test has become essential, even in workplaces. As a matter of fact, a large number of companies have already offered antibody testing facilities to their employees just to maintain a safe environment in workplaces.

Antibody testing basics

Firstly, blood samples are collected from a person to perform this test. Then the samples are examined by pathologists and medical experts to determine the presence of antibodies in it. If the test shows a positive result, then it means that there remains a chance that the person was having Covid-19 at any point of time in the past. This test is not for diagnosing the current presence of the disease in the body.

Knowingly, the Food and Drug Administration of the USA has already barred the test procedures from selling such tests to common people. As a matter of fact, 18-20 days are generally required to prepare the antibodies after a person is infected. However, only the results generated by any federally approved pathology lab should be accepted.

Necessities of Antibody testing

• It will help to detect the employees who have been attacked by this deadly virus before.
• It will help to know which ones among the employees are eligible for donating plasma.
• It will also passively help the organization to know about the precautionary measures to be taken to ensure the safety of the employees.

Next step for the employees

There can be certain reasons why an employer may hesitate a bit to run this test at this moment. The positive test result ensures a past existence of this virus in the body, and the organizations should not make changes to their existing policies based on the test results as the safety procedures of any organization should remain the same.

Although the test facilities are there, still it may be harder to know what to do with the test results. The three of the most questionable issues in this regard are,

• Effectiveness: None of us are aware of the exact degree to which the produced antibody starts to provide protection or immunity.
• Consistency: Nobody knows exactly how consistently such antibodies provide protection and it varies man to man or not.
• Quantity: Most of all, it is not known yet that to which degree a human body starts to produce antibodies. There may be a number of people who may never develop antibodies even after getting infected.

Antibody tests are extremely necessary in workplaces. However, it is also massively important to have a clear explanation of what exactly the test results indicate. Apart from that, it is also important to know what the test results do not indicate about the present health status of any employee.