UPMC researchers are among those nationwide and around the world working to learn more about blood tests that could help physicians understand how a person’s body has responded to covid-19.

The blood test would measure whether a person has antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid-19, and could show that a person has had an infection — possibly without symptoms — and recovered, or that their body is fighting off an ongoing infection.

The test does not determine whether a person is immune to the disease, a UPMC spokesperson said in a statement.

Antibodies are blood proteins the body produces to fight foreign substances such as viruses.

Tests that detect antibodies could help to improve community surveillance of the spread of covid-19, contact tracing and individual diagnoses. But researchers are still trying to understand exactly what it means if someone has antibodies in their system.

“We do not have the capabilities to test the general public at this time,” the statement said. “We are still determining the meaning of the tests. In addition, we expect that supplies will continue to be extremely limited. Once available, it will likely be used in conjunction with various local and national clinical trials that UPMC is organizing or participating in.”

The Food and Drug Administration approved one such coronavirus antibody blood test last week.

That test, developed by the North Carolina and China-based biotechnology company Cellex, can detect the presence of antibodies but does not guarantee the person tested is immune to the virus, The New York Times reported.

In Italy, authorities are using antibody tests to evaluate whether some health care workers can return to work. German researchers are hoping to use the tests to safely lift social distancing measures.

If approved, researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research would begin testing about 100,000 volunteers this month, the Guardian reported.

The study would help track the virus’ progress and eventually could allow the government to determine whether some people are allowed to return to work and other normal activities.

Those individuals could be issued an “immunity certificate” to show they have been tested, the researchers said.

These tests are not yet available in Pennsylvania or elsewhere in the U.S., but Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said Monday she anticipates antibody testing will be useful in the future.

“We have no plans right now to offer anything like immunity certificates,” Dr. Levine said during a news briefing. “There’s much more to learn about covid-19 and what exactly these tests mean.”

She noted these tests do not replace those being used to test for an ongoing, contagious infection.

Some of the questions researchers are trying to answer include understanding the best way to interpret test results and developing best practices for conducting the tests, said Dr. Kelly Stephano, director of microbiology at Allegheny Health Network.

It’s also important to understand how good the test is at specifically detecting immunity to covid-19, and whether it is picking up on the body’s response to other coronaviruses that a person might have been exposed to, she said.

Rolling these tests out before those questions are answered could lead to a false sense of security.

“We could end up with another wave or surge of infection and will not necessarily know who will be protected or susceptible to that infection,” Stephano said.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)