(Newser)
– Scientists believe that millions of people have been infected with the coronavirus and have recovered without knowing for sure. Antibody tests have been used to look at past infections, but researchers say the new test may be more effective in detecting immune cells called “T cells”. New York Times Reports. Seattle-based company Adaptive Biotechnologies says that research using Italian Vona samples, where the entire city was tested in March, was able to correctly identify 97% of the “T-detect” tests that tested positive, while one Professional antibody testing identified only 77%. Experts say that T cells are a more reliable indicator of past infections than antibodies, which the body decays after fighting the infection and cannot be detected after a few months.
Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at the Yale School of Medicine, told CNN. “The source of the antibodies – the factory that makes them – dies within a few months,” he said. “For other viruses they have been shown to last for years. For this virus we don’t know how long they last, but we will expect at least a few years.” T cells are more difficult for T virus than antibodies, although Adaptive Biotechnologies, which developed the Lume Disease test when the epidemic struck, says its technology was able to successfully detect evidence of infection by identifying proteins on the surface of cells. T-cell receptors. The company hopes to launch the exam on a commercial basis by the end of this month. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
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