Antibody tests used to determine if people have been infected in the past with COVID-19 might be wrong up to half the time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in new guidance posted on its website.
"Serologic test results should not be used to make decisions about grouping persons residing in or being admitted to congregate settings, such as schools, dormitories, or correctional facilities," the CDC says.
"In most of the country, including areas that have been heavily impacted, the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody is expected to be low, ranging from less than 5% to 25%, so that testing at this point might result in relatively more false positive results and fewer false-negative results," the CDC said.
It's a point that's been made frequently in recent weeks by public health experts, but the CDC spells out the problem in the new advice on antibody testing.A false positive will lead someone to believe they have been infected when in fact they have not been. There's little evidence now about whether having been infected gives people immunity to later infection, but doctors worry that people will behave as if they are immune if they get a positive antibody test.
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