Curious Bengaluru citizens take antibody test to check for past Covid-19 infection

BENGALURU: Following the rollout of vaccines, more people in Bengaluru are curious to know if they’ve been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, and are getting an antibody test done. 

An antibody test is a blood test that detects the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, which would mean that the person was exposed to the virus in the past.

Charges range between Rs 900 and Rs 1,200 and results are out in a few hours.

“It isn’t just doctors and health workers who are taking the test, but common people too. It used to be around 10-20 a day when Covid cases peaked, now we are seeing around 120 a day,” said Dr Sujay Prasad, medical director at Neuberg Anand Reference Laboratory.

According to sources, antibody tests are also offered to some vaccinated health and frontline workers for research on the vaccine’s efficacy. 

A health department official said, “Taking antibody tests at regular intervals allows researchers to monitor antibody waning to determine the duration of vaccine immunity. This requires the appropriate test to monitor antibody levels for the first few months after vaccination, coupled with different types of tests to better understand the long-term protection offered by the vaccine,” he said.

Antibody tests will also be used to track effectiveness in other ways. The official said, “For someone who tests positive after being vaccinated, an antibody test can be used to assess the case of potential vaccine failure to determine if the vaccine triggered an immune response.”

Interestingly, Dr Vishal Rao, head and neck oncologist at HCG Hospitals, and also a pioneer in the administration of plasma therapy in Karnataka, said, “People are also curious about this now. Many people, including doctors, are getting the antibody test to find out whether the vaccine has produced antibodies. Those who contracted Covid earlier want to find out how their body has reacted to the infection. Even among lay people, the general conversation now is on whether they have already been infected and developed immunity. So, many people are getting antibody tests done out of curiosity.”

Dr Sujay Prasad says using an antibody test would provide great insight into who is ‘protected’.

“We advocate taking the test before vaccination, and 28 days after second dose. This will help check if there are spike protein antibodies before and after vaccination,” he said.

Meanwhile, physician Dr Gopikrishna D said, “Any organisation can now use the antibody test to assess the Covid-19 situation in a particular community, which was only possible for a research organisation earlier. Authorities can opt for a cluster-based antibody test,” he said.