By Ryan Boetel/ Journal Personnel Writer
Wednesday, April 22 nd, 2020 at 9: 42 pm
Copyright © 2020 Albuquerque Journal
Tests to see whether individuals have antibodies to the coronavirus and are perhaps immune will be offered in New Mexico in a week or so, health authorities stated Wednesday.
Dr. Richard Larson
The viral screening being carried out in the state determines whether individuals presently have COVID-19 An antibody, or serological, test shows whether somebody has established antibodies to the virus, which indicates they have actually currently been exposed to it.
It is believed that the majority of people exposed to the coronavirus don’t reveal symptoms, so such a test could offer insight into how the infection has actually spread out amongst those who didn’t understand it, said Dr. Richard Larson, executive vice chancellor of the University of New Mexico Health Sciences.
Larson predicted antibody testing will reveal that the virus is more widespread than present health department data suggest.
Research studies from somewhere else in the nation show it’s possible that more than 50 times as lots of people have antibodies to the virus compared with those who tested positive after establishing symptoms, health officials stated.
” I think we’re going to have a few hundred thousand people, if that holds up, who are immune in New Mexico,” Larson stated.
A large-scale research study based upon antibody screening in Los Angeles County in California showed in between 221,000 and 442,000 grownups had antibodies to the virus at a time when there were just 8,000 positive tests, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Larson discussed antibody screening at a virtual Albuquerque Economic Forum on Wednesday morning. And Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other state officials spoke about the test at a rundown in the afternoon.
” The (antibody testing) is critical in understanding everything we can about the prevalence of the infection, immunity to the infection and being able to ensure customers that, as we take a look at economic healing, are you safe to go in to a grocery store or a service?” Lujan Grisham stated during the briefing.
TriCore Referral Laboratories is working to get antibody screening validated and it might be up and running in seven to 10 days, Larson stated. Laboratory officials didn’t return require comment Wednesday.
Dr. David Scrase, cabinet secretary for the Health and Person Solutions Department, cautioned versus drawing too many conclusions from serology test outcomes. He said, it isn’t known whether individuals who have antibodies are immune from the coronavirus, or how long that resistance would last.
” The antibody tests helps us understand our population much better. … And it will permit us to make better decisions,” Scrase stated.
The test could prove advantageous to healthcare facilities, Larson stated, if authorities understood which of its workers were most likely unsusceptible to the infection and could then look after clients.
He warned against allowing the “concerned well”– those who actually need no medical treatment but are looking for assurance– to be provided immediate access to the tests and use minimal resources once the tests are unveiled.
Both Scrase and Larson suggested tests not be used as a magic bullet for raising stay-at-home directions and opening up the economy.
” I believe you can’t rely on it,” Larson stated. “It will work, but it’s not going to be something where you are going to state, ‘Just the people who get a favorable (antibody) test return (to work) and then those who do not, do not.’ “
