Chat about Novel Coronavirus - 2019-nCoV - COVID-19

Curious as to people's reasons for buying antibody tests

Not saying it applies to anyone here but from discussions elsewhere it seems for many to be an attempt at post-hoc justification for poor social distancing behaviour.

"Well, if I'm immune I can't have been spreading the virus to anyone."

If the general population turns from a stance of "Act like you have the virus" (rather than "Act like you don't want to get the virus") to "Act like you've had the virus" then social distancing is going to quickly disappear down the pan and take a good number of other people down with it.

(And conveniently ignores the fact that those with a positive antibody test can still be infectious, albeit only for a few days, and can forever transfer the virus thanks to poor personal hygiene [specifically handwashing] if they come into contact with it elsewhere.)

Depends why you bought it/the risk associated with a wrong result.

If it's because you live with your 80 year old mother and want to get a positive result and then go about your business as usual with no chance of infecting her, then I'd say yes, because gambling your mum's life on a 1-in-20 chance of a false positive would be too risky for me. If you're just curious then no.

Edit: If like @Fox you're wondering if you had some other disease that needs checking out urgently, then a negative result should see you sent straight to the doctor.

The situation with dentistry is nuts right now. The definition of ‘emergency’ has been stretched. Teeth fallen apart? here have a ‘kit’ (sugru?) thanks-bye.
Nothing is opening up until mid August apparently.

They could use some tests.

I have a friend flying to Eastern Europe for wisdom tooth removal. They have no intention of going into quarantine on return. The idea of quarantine now is a bit daft - there is more infection in the UK than (for example) Europe.

Well, arguably they should be going into quarantine on arrival in Europe, then. :)

Yes, they will. Hungary. Who have an enforced quarantine.

You can check in to a really nice hotel, cheaply. Full social distancing and supposedly good hygiene measures in place.

Use code LUFUGSS for ‘buy-one, get-one-free’ on luxury Hungarian molar-removals.

Why should I not order one of those antibody tests?

Because if it comes back negative, you should stay at home. If it comes back positive and you’re terrible at maths, it’s 50/50 as to whether you’re actually positive and you could still be carrying the virus and passing it to others, so you should stay at home.

Counter argument - I'm interested in the results.

it’s 50/50

More like 90%+ for a positive result given the real life sensitivity and specificity values of the test.

The 50/50 odds for a positive result were from a contrived example.

Prof John Newton told the Commons science and technology committee the public should wait for an approved home test which is currently being evaluated.

The government announced on Thursday that more than 10m antibody kits were being bought and would be rolled out first in hospitals and care homes.

High street chains, including Superdrug, had already begun to offer a home antibody test kit for £69.

When asked about the home tests, Newton said better tests would be available to the public soon.

an approved home test which is currently being evaluated.

Which presumably is the Abbot one that's been approved by PHE, which is the one linked to?

¯_(ツ)_/¯

The 50/50 odds for a positive result were from a contrived example.

TLDR

The only benefit I can see for having one (and getting back a positive result) is that it allays some of the fear of getting it and possibly dying from it.

Although a negative result could just increase that fear and, even if you did get back a positive result, there will always be that nagging doubt in your mind that it was a false positive test.

So, to answer the actual question asked, it might not put you in a better position than not having it. If you've got the £69 spare then and you're not bothered about the above then I can't see any other reason not to.

I just want to see if it was C19 that I had when I got back from the US at the start of the year (I went to the US direct from the Alps).

I just want to see if it was C19 that I had when I got back from the US at the start of the year (I went to the US direct from the Alps).

It won't tell you that (well, not definitively). That could have been something else and at a later date and completely separately you had picked up SARS-Cov-2 and been completely asymptomatic.

My downstairs neighbour has been banging on about how he and his family have definitely had it back in early March, classic symptoms (and this list seems to grow each time he tells the story) but his (very recent) antibody test came back negative. He seems to be in some kind of limbo now, not knowing exactly what to make of it all.

True. Well, we shall see- I ordered it, will report back.

Negative! I'm still glad I had it, because I'd rather know, and now I know I need to carry on being alert for my own sake as well as that of others.

I think this means I know a lot of people who think they've had Covid but may well not have done...

Yes, it's just confusing given that apparently you may not even notice you had the virus, that even if you 'have' COVID-19 there are supposedly many different ways in which symptoms can manifest themselves, that there may be other, less bad coronaviruses going round ... just hard to understand.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

You need to add an extra pair of backslashes to get that arm back - like so: ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think this means I know a lot of people who think they've had Covid but may well not have done...

Pretty sure I do. People I know who've had symptoms more consistent with a cold, food poisoning or a bad hangover have convinced themselves it must be Covid19. Seems that some people have decided that feeling ill = Covid.

When we get rep back, there's one in the tap for you.

https://xkcd.com/1638/

My post had a lot of bacsklashes.

I had to type out this: ¯\\\\\\\_(ツ)_/¯