The pharmaceutical company Roche has developed an antibody test for the new coronavirus. Germany also wants to find out how many people are already immune to SARS-CoV-2. But the test carries risks.
It is the new hope for curbing the coronavirus pandemic: the antibody test of the Swiss pharmaceutical company that has now been approved in some countries Roche. After the United States, Germany has now decided to use this test to target the population Corona virus– to examine antibodies.
Because the more people demonstrably already have an infection with SARS-CoV-2 have gone through and formed antibodies against the virus, the sooner further loosening of the pandemic restrictions is possible.
The first easing of the corona measures was implemented in Germany. But was it too early? Doctors and virologists are already warning of a second wave of infections. (Source: t-online.de)
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Animations and medical experts show: Why a second wave of infection can come and why the loosening increases the risk of corona. (Source: t-online.de)
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Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn Accordingly, there is a lot of hope for tests for antibodies in the blood: They would help determine the percentage of the population who had been infected with the novel corona virus, he said on Monday at Roche’s Penzberg site. Among other things, the test is already being produced there – after the deal with the Ministry of Health, the production capacity for 170 million euros is to be significantly expanded again, as Roche President Christoph Franz said on Monday.
According to Jens Spahn, Roche should deliver three million of these blood tests to the Federal Republic this month – first of all they should be available to health care facilities. After the first swing in May, Germany should receive five million tests a month from the company. But how reliable are the results of these tests?
How does the new antibody test work?
The test, called Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2, detects antibodies in human blood serum and plasma and can thus show an immune response of the body to the new coronavirus. However, according to Roche, it is not a test for home use. According to a company spokesman, appropriate technical devices are required to evaluate the blood test.
Antibody test: Germany wants to buy millions of units of Roche’s new Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 serological test. (Source: Peter Kneffel / dpa)
Roche test is also not 100 percent reliable
The fact is: Roche’s new test for lung disease Covid-19 the triggering virus is apparently less prone to errors than several dozen of its predecessors previously available on the market. However, this test is also not 100 percent error-free.
On the one hand, this is due to the way it works: In contrast to the PCR tests that are commonly used, antibody tests do not show components of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen in the body, but react to indications of an infection in the blood that has already passed. However, the body does not produce antibodies until two to three weeks after being infected with the coronavirus. This means that if you are currently experiencing an acute infection with the pathogen, an antibody test does not yet work.
On the other hand, the new test is also not absolutely reliable. According to Christoph Franz, Chairman of the Roche Board of Directors, he has a sensitivity of 100 percent, but a so-called specificity of 99.8 percent.
The sensitivity, also called sensitivity, means that the test of 100 people who have already survived an infection also correctly identifies all 100. All 100 test persons are actually shown to have been infected.
The Specificity value indicates the probability that healthy people who do not have Covid-19 will also be identified as healthy (i.e. negative) by the test. In the Roche test, 99.8 percent of 100 people who had not yet contracted SARS-CoV-2 received a negative result.
For 0.2 percent of the people tested – at least two people out of a thousand – the test would incorrectly show a positive result (false positives).
More on the reliability of antibody tests read here.
False-positive people would therefore assume that they have already been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and are therefore now immune to it – what the infection rate could skyrocket again. Because these people would be in false security and no longer take precautions to protect others. They could unknowingly infect many others in their area – which would be fatal to staff in hospitals or care facilities, among other things.
Antibody test creates dangerous false security
According to Roche, the test is intended for precisely these groups of people, among other things. The company wrote on its website: “The test can also be used for the primary screening of high-risk groups. These include, for example, medical professionals and food supply workers who may already have a certain level immunity have developed and could continue to work or return to work. “
Once more is found out about immunity to Covid-19, the test, according to the pharmaceutical company, could also help enable society to return to normal faster.
The test could thus possibly accelerate the introduction of the so-called immunity passport, which, according to the ideas of Federal Health Minister Spahn, would make it easier for people who have recovered to carry out certain activities, for example in the healthcare sector. Whether this pass should actually be introduced is highly controversial.
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