PHE Approved IgG Antibody Test

Public Health England (PHE) has only approved test using blood taken by a health professional from a vein. Because many of the finger prick antibody blood tests use the same technology in the laboratory as the venous test, some online providers have wrongly claimed that their kits are “PHE validated”. But PHE does not yet regard tests on blood samples taken from the capillaries on the end of the finger as effective.

The test we offer are PHE approved, and the most accurate available.

This tests your blood for the presence of antibodies that your body has produced in response to being exposed to the virus. It is only very recently - in April, that reliable tests for the presence of antibodies have been made available here. The IgG test is produced by one of the world's foremost diagnostic providers, millions of which are being shipped to the NHS here, to Europe and the world to be used in the frontline of detecting the spread of SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus through our communities. It is FDA EUA approved and CE marked.

IgG Results

You will get your results within a day of your blood sample being received at the laboratory. Your result will let you know whether IgG antibodies have been detected or not. 

Sensitivity:

This test has proven to be 100% accurate in identifying antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus at 14 days after onset of covid-19 symptoms. Or put another way, everyone who had an illness that was confirmed to be caused by covid-19 developed IgG antibodies 14 days later so there were no false negatives.

Specificity:

It is 99.63% specific. Or put another way, Only 0.37% of over 1000 people tested who could not have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 showed a false positive result. Interestingly there were over 70 people who had other similar respiratory illnesses tested in this group and none of them showed any false positives so it seems very unlikely that this test picks up antibodies to any of the other viruses that cause symptoms like covid-19. This problem with cross-reactivity was a very major concern about many of the cassette tests that were rushed to market.

It is CE marked, FDA EUA approved, and is being shipped to laboratories in the UK and Europe in the millions of units to be used in the frontline of testing efforts to track the spread of the virus through our community.

We are working with the world leader in developing SARS-CoV-2 testing and it is exciting to be one of the first laboratories in Europe able to make this particular test available to anyone who would like to know more about their exposure to this virus

Immunity:

Please note that there is still a lot to learn about this virus and having antibodies does not mean you definitely have immunity. Also, it is not yet clear how long immunity lasts, even if there is any. So please don't think you can shed the masks, flush the alcogel and rush out to a party just because you get a positive result!

While there is still a lot of uncertainty, it is likely and that you may have at least some temporary immunity. Still, it is very important that you do not take the presence of antibodies to mean that you are able to ignore government advice about social distancing, hand washing and isolation.