Call for further evaluation of antibody testing
MORE research is needed on antibody tests before they can be considered a game-changer, according to RCSI Professor in Infectious Diseases Dr Samuel McConkey.
Ireland is set to begin carrying out antibody tests next month to detect if a person has had Covid-19.
The test will determine the prevalence of the disease in the population. An application is understood to have been made to the National Covid-19 Research Ethics Committee which will approve the initiative.
However, Dr McConkey told the Irish Mail on Sunday that more research on the antibody tests which have been produced was still necessary. When asked if antibody tests should be the next priority in Ireland’s public health fight against the virus, he said: ‘No not yet, as the validation is not adequate to be confident about the results.
‘The validation studies have to be performed by some independent groups.
‘They need a much bigger sample – not just 77 patients – and they need a wide range of Covid-19 patients, of varying severity age and co-morbidities.
‘And there are about 15 other detailed technical aspects of validation which have to be in place first.
‘So we need urgent studies of assessment and testing of many serological diagnostic assays (blood-based evaluations) soon, but it is much too early to tell.’