Based on the genetic technology of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the test was developed by hematology and immunology researchers Fabian Tarin, Francisco Marco and Paula Piñero of the Alicante Hospital Center and the Institute for Health and Biomedical Research of Alicante (Isabial).
“To date, we have evidence that a minority (about 5%) of people with proven infection, especially mild, asymptomatic and immunosuppressive, did not develop antibodies and were likely to remain unprotected in the face of possible reinfection,” – Fabian Taryn Ob it was reported by the Spanish agency Efe News.
This method, which is more sensitive than conventional methods, shows that “almost half of these patients have antibodies in small amounts that are invisible to other methods, and therefore may have some protection against SARS-CoV-2,” the researcher explained.
Thus, the detection of these low levels of antibodies that cannot be detected in other tests provides valuable information for the medical strategy of these patients, which, in fact, can be protected if they become infected again.
The researchers’ work is based on genetically engineered cell lines in CSIC laboratories and is based on a test known as flow cytometry, which only requires a microliter of fingerstick blood, Efe said.
Francisco Marco, a member of the Spanish Society of Immunologists, noted that the test visualizes the “main” type of antibodies, the IgA type, which remains up to eight months after infection in the vast majority of patients and represents the first barrier. against the virus.
This is because it is located in mucous membranes such as saliva or breast milk, where it can block germs and prevent infection.
In any case, the scientist warned that one should not “relax one’s vigilance”, since the presence of antibodies “does not guarantee individual protection for an indefinite period” from the virus and its new varieties.
Even taking these precautions into account, Paula Piñero said that the first results so far obtained in vaccinated patients “indicate that patients vaccinated with various vaccines show a strong response.”
The greater ability to detect antibodies using the test can be especially useful for investigating the degree of protection of immunocompromised patients or cancer patients who theoretically develop weaker immune responses, because they are more unprotected and susceptible to severe forms of infection.
The study, published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports, is carried out in collaboration with Vitro Diagnóstica and Incliva, the Institute for Health Research.
According to a report by the French agency AFP, the covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 3,524,960 deaths worldwide, resulting in more than 169.3 million infections.
