Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by gt565k 2282 days ago
Are anti-body tests available to purchase on the commercial market yet?

I'd like to know if I already had it so I can get on with my life.

3 comments

It's illegal to sell them directly to customers in the US as of now. You can buy them in bulk relatively easily.
Can you still carry it / spread it after you’ve had it and recovered?
Probably not, but the reason to get antibody tests is to know you're past it and hopefully wont be a carrier to potentially infect others (e.g., if you live with your elderly parents)

That said, there are no hard rules

- you can still spread it physically (e.g., via clothing, on hands, surfaces)

- it isnt 100% clear you cannot be re-infected

- it isnt clear the length of time immunity is conferred

- it isnt clear if the virus might mutate drastically overstepping immunity from a previous infection

IANAD, of course get final answers from your doctor

When you recover from a virus, antibodies are in your body. These can be detected, Once you're recovered, you can no longer spread the disease. Problem is, people with mild symptoms believe they don't have it, or have recovered.

I'm one of the many, many people who has been ill for a while during the past weeks, and would like to know if I had it. If I can know for sure that I had it, and no longer have it, then I can "move on with my life" indeed. As in, I no longer have to worry about getting this disease, spreading this disease, or getting organ damage from this disease. Most important, I'll know that when I visit my mother (nearly 70, and risk group) that I won't spread the disease to her. Same for my mother in law.

> Once you're recovered, you can no longer spread the disease.

This is a super dangerous statement and absent proof you should probably retract it. There are plenty of viruses that you still shed even after recovery, there is some evidence already that COVID-19 is still contagious after recovery with an unknown for the duration, it could be hours, days or even weeks, without a very good test regime it is very hard to put a safe boundary on this.

WHO recommends 14 days, RIVM 1 day. With no symptoms.
If you're not shedding viruses, you can't spread it.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22690831

Don't assume shedding stops once you have had it and got better.