Covid-19 tests are normally done to identify people who have contracted the virus. However, not all of them are supposed to detect the SARS-COV-2 virus in the patient’s blood. One of these tests is called Covid-19 antibody testing. This test is usually done at an antibody testing clinic in North Hills to reveal whether a person has Covid-19 antibodies in the blood. You can count on North Hills Urgent Care Clinic antibody tests to provide high-quality Covid-19 and Covid-19 antibody tests that produce reliable results.
Understanding the difference between Covid-19 and Covid-19 antibody testing is important because it lets you know what each test is. Keep reading this post to understand what an antibody testing clinic in North Hills is.
How is antibody testing conducted?
There are two ways to conduct an antibody test. One of them is doing the test at your home or going to the North hills urgent care clinic to get tested for antibodies against COVID-19. You will need a testing kit when you do the test in the comfort of your home. Before performing the test, you need to read the instructions very carefully. Inside the testing kit, you will find a lancet device. You need to use this device to prick the tip of your finger to draw blood. Squeeze the blood carefully into a test tube.
If you feel nervous, you can ask anyone close to you to help you perform the test. That is if you are not self-isolating. Once you are through the test, you can post the blood sample or the kit using the Royal Mail priority postbox. You can also have the antibody test done at an antibody testing clinic in North Hills. A lab technician will prick your fingertip to remove blood. The blood sample will then be taken to a laboratory for further tests to determine whether you have Covid-19 antibodies in your blood.
How many types of Covid-19 antibodies are there?
Once you contract Covid-19, the body takes time to produce antibodies. One type of Covid-19 antibody is known as the IgM antibody. This type of antibody will develop almost immediately when the SARS-CoV-2 virus enters the body. Other types of Covid-19 virus are called IgG antibodies. IgG antibodies often take time to develop compared to IgM antibodies. These types of antibodies will take about two weeks after symptoms occur to develop. Although IgG antibodies take long, they stay longer in the body once the virus is defeated.
Covid-19 rapid response tests are usually performed to identify patients who have Covid-19. Unlike antibody testing, you can perform a quick response test at home with a kit. You must have it at a healthcare facility such as North Hills Urgent Care.
Details are, however, scanty on how long Covid-19 antibodies will stay in the blood once the virus is defeated. Performing an antibody testing clinic in North Hills requires a small amount of blood. The medical practitioner from North Hills Urgent Care Clinic will do the following when performing antibody testing:
- Clean the area of the arm where blood needs to be drawn
- Tie with an elastic band above the area of the arm where blood needs to be drawn to allow blood to accumulate in the vain
- Use a syringe needle to draw blood out of the vein that has swollen up with blood, typically inside the elbow or at the back of the arm.
- Retain the blood in the syringe it put it in a vial.
- Untie the elastic band and pull out the needle from the vein.
Why have an antibody test?
Another name for the antibody test done at North Hills Urgent Care Clinic is serology testing. There are many benefits that serology testing offers. The ideal time to have an antibody test is when a person has fully recovered from COVID-19. If the serology test result turns out to be positive, it means antibodies are found in the blood. It also means that the person suffered from COVID-19 in the recent past.
Antibodies are proteins that develop in the immune system when Covid-19 or any other infection infects a person. It is the body’s defense mechanism. Positive results also means that you have developed immunity against COVID-19. Doctors have not yet established how strong the immunity is. It is also unclear how long antibodies will stay in the blood once they develop.
An antibody testing clinic in North Hills allows doctors to understand how the virus spread in a particular population. It also helps to identify asymptomatic patients who could be unknowingly spreading the virus. In other words, antibody tests help to prevent the virus from spreading. You can only rely on North Hills Urgent Care Clinic for accurate antibody testing.
Antibody tests also help researchers to figure out how antibodies behave after an infection. Testing for antibodies may give false results if done very early after an infection. The ideal time to have an antibody test is when you fully recover from COVID-19 or 14 days after symptoms. Persons who develop Covid-19 antibodies after an infection can donate their plasma to those who can’t produce antibodies.
Conclusion
An antibody test is critical because it allows researchers and doctors to understand how Covid-19 spreads in a population. This test is often done once a person recovers entirely from COVID-19. You can decide to do this test independently, or you can visit North Hills Urgent Care Clinic to access antibody testing. Antibodies are proteins that develop in the immune system. It is also an ideal test to identify asymptomatic patients. These are patients who contract Covid-19 but don’t display any symptoms.
