WEBVTT - Antibody Testing Could Help Us Get Back to Normal, but Questions Remain

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<v Speaker 1>It's Monday a I'm Oscar Emiras from the Daily Dive

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<v Speaker 1>podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily coronavirus update.

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<v Speaker 1>Everyone is looking forward to how and when we can

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<v Speaker 1>get back to work and get back to normal. We

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<v Speaker 1>still have yet to hit the peak number of cases

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<v Speaker 1>in the United States, but some are hoping that testing

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<v Speaker 1>for antibodies in the blood could help get us back.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have anybodies to COVID nineteen, it means you

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<v Speaker 1>already had the disease and could be immune, at least

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<v Speaker 1>in the short term. Rachel Becker, reporter at cal Matters,

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<v Speaker 1>joins us for how antibody testing could help, but there

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<v Speaker 1>are still many questions left to be answered. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>joining us, Rachel, Thanks for inviting me. Everyone is very

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<v Speaker 1>curious about how and when we can all get back

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<v Speaker 1>to normal. When can we start going back to work,

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<v Speaker 1>when can we start loosening up on the social distancing

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<v Speaker 1>And one of the things that a lot of people

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<v Speaker 1>are pointing to and talking about is antibody testing. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>it shows that you might have gotten coronavirus already and

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<v Speaker 1>gotten over it. They're looking to people that have gotten

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<v Speaker 1>over it to possibly harvest some of their plasma to

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<v Speaker 1>help others. But the other thing too, is okay, so

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<v Speaker 1>you have these antibodies, maybe you're immune to it for

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<v Speaker 1>a few months a short period of time. We can

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<v Speaker 1>get back into the workforce, we can get back to normal.

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<v Speaker 1>So a lot of people are looking forward to something

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<v Speaker 1>like this, but there's still a lot of questions about it.

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<v Speaker 1>Rachel tell us a little bit about that. Antibodies are

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<v Speaker 1>immune proteins that attack viruses and other pathogens, and they

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<v Speaker 1>form as part of the immune response to a virus

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<v Speaker 1>like stars Covey to the virus that causes the disease

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<v Speaker 1>known as COVID nineteen. And so the hope is that

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<v Speaker 1>by testing for antibodies, researchers public health workers will be

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<v Speaker 1>able to identify those who have already had the virus

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<v Speaker 1>and who have fought it off and survived. There are

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of ways these antibody tests could be used epidemiologically.

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<v Speaker 1>They're really valuable for tracking the spread of the virus,

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<v Speaker 1>understanding the true fatality rate, and for being able to

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<v Speaker 1>see where it's spread, who gets sickest, who dozen't, and why.

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<v Speaker 1>But then there's this other conversation that's happening that you

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<v Speaker 1>just mentioned about using antibody tests to try to maybe

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<v Speaker 1>selectively lift the shelter in place order that we have

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<v Speaker 1>here in California, and that's cropping up across the country.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, maybe folks who have antibodies should be sent

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<v Speaker 1>to the front lines. That's definitely a possibility that's been floated.

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<v Speaker 1>But healthcare professionals, scientists that I've spoke to urge caution.

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<v Speaker 1>There's still a lot we don't know about the immune

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<v Speaker 1>response to uh stars, covie too, to the novel coronavirush.

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<v Speaker 1>We don't know how strong the antibody response is. We

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<v Speaker 1>don't know what level of antibodies are considered protective. We

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<v Speaker 1>don't know if everybody makes the right kinds of antibodies

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<v Speaker 1>to be protective, and we don't know how long that

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<v Speaker 1>protection lasts. So they're just still so many unknowns to

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<v Speaker 1>to start putting people's safety on the line. Testing, testing, testing,

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<v Speaker 1>it's all about testing. We're still barely it seems like

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<v Speaker 1>we're getting starting to gain a handle on actually testing

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<v Speaker 1>people for the virus. But on the antibody testing side,

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<v Speaker 1>there are a few tests that are there, and I

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<v Speaker 1>know in some areas of starting those tests on people,

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<v Speaker 1>but we're still a little ways from getting this ramped up. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>there have definitely been some studies that are going on

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<v Speaker 1>across the country. CDC has one, other research groups, Violent

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<v Speaker 1>Research Institute, and others are using antibody tests to again,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, trace the virus um as an academic question. Stanford,

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<v Speaker 1>though recently launched a lab developed test on April six

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<v Speaker 1>at Stanford Healthcare and the idea for that test is

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<v Speaker 1>to determine which healthcare workers might be at lower risk

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<v Speaker 1>for working with COVID nineteen patients. And I say, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>lower risk because we don't know exactly how much protection

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<v Speaker 1>antibodies confer at this time. Going back to whether you know,

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<v Speaker 1>you get COVID nineteen, you get over it, and if

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<v Speaker 1>you have this immunity towards it enough anybodies to help

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<v Speaker 1>you throughout that. There have been some studies, some preliminary

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<v Speaker 1>findings that I think they've done these studies and monkeys

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<v Speaker 1>they were infected maybe a month later, they were still

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<v Speaker 1>immune to it. Tell us a little bit about what

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<v Speaker 1>we know on that, and I know we don't know much.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just we're trying to piece it together as we go. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>we know so little about reinfection. Still, there have been

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<v Speaker 1>some reports of people potentially getting reinfected with the novel coronavirus,

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<v Speaker 1>but there is some doubt that the folks who were

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<v Speaker 1>reported as getting reinfected had actually cleared the virus from

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<v Speaker 1>their systems. It may have been more of a flare

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<v Speaker 1>up of the virus as as they recovered and not reinfection.

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<v Speaker 1>But researchers have done some studies and monkeys where they

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<v Speaker 1>infected the monkeys and then you know, watched their inner

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<v Speaker 1>bodies go up, and then a month later they tried

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<v Speaker 1>to reinfect the monkeys and the monkeys were not susceptible

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<v Speaker 1>to reinfection. So a bunch of infectious disease experts wrote

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<v Speaker 1>an article d of just assessing the state of coronavirus research,

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<v Speaker 1>and they wrote that that was reassuring. So we'll need

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<v Speaker 1>a lot more of these studies, will need a long

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<v Speaker 1>term follow up of people who have recovered to really

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<v Speaker 1>understand it. But as those uh, the infectious disease experts wrote,

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<v Speaker 1>it was reassuring about short term immunity that's different from

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<v Speaker 1>long term immunity and stars too, I mean like a

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<v Speaker 1>loose cousin of COVID nineteen. They've done some long term

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<v Speaker 1>follow ups on people that survived that, and they've seen

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<v Speaker 1>stuff that suggests some of their antibodies lasted for about

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<v Speaker 1>two years or so. But one of the worst case

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<v Speaker 1>scenarios that everybody we want to avoid our you know,

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<v Speaker 1>this false sense of security from it. These tests are

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<v Speaker 1>so new and we don't know much about the stars

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<v Speaker 1>COVIE two yet, is that you know, there could be

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<v Speaker 1>some false positive test results things like that, and we

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to get some of these types of test

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<v Speaker 1>results and then send people back into the workforce and

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<v Speaker 1>have other outbreaks exactly exactly, and um, it's it's possible

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<v Speaker 1>with a poorly designed test that it will pick up

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<v Speaker 1>antibodies to other coronaviruses, you know, not just stars or mirrors,

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<v Speaker 1>but also the mild coronavirus is that folks might get

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<v Speaker 1>seasonal cults from UH and so poorly designed test, it's

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<v Speaker 1>possible that it could pick up those antibodies and then

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<v Speaker 1>you get that false positive, and that false positive is

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<v Speaker 1>the worst case scenario where folks will think that they're

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<v Speaker 1>protected and that they're not UH. This could you know,

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<v Speaker 1>if if this shelter in place orders is lifted too

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<v Speaker 1>soon on the basis of imperfect tests, it could allow

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<v Speaker 1>for the spread to ramp back up, which is really

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<v Speaker 1>I would be a terrible thing for public health and

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<v Speaker 1>for the hospitals that are already doing the best they

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<v Speaker 1>can to care for and to cope with the patients

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<v Speaker 1>they're seeing right now. We did mention a bit ago

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<v Speaker 1>about how there are some places that are starting to

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<v Speaker 1>do this type of testing, either Stanford or the CDC,

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<v Speaker 1>But do we have a sense of when these might

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<v Speaker 1>be able to be ramped up and more people can

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<v Speaker 1>start getting these type of tests. It's really an open question,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's an important question. Stanford just launched it for

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<v Speaker 1>healthcare workers. One test has received emergency use authorization from

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<v Speaker 1>the Food and Drug Administration. But given the problems we've

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<v Speaker 1>seen with the supply chain and with ramping up of

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<v Speaker 1>the diagnostic tests that look for the virus, the called

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<v Speaker 1>the PCR tests, I think it's really an open question

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<v Speaker 1>whether antibody tests will be able to ramp up quickly

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<v Speaker 1>and really, especially at the scale we would need to

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<v Speaker 1>start saying, okay, like folks can start re entering the workforce,

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<v Speaker 1>life can start going back to two normal. Rachel Becker,

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<v Speaker 1>reporter at cal Matters, thank you very much for joining us.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for inviting me. I'm Oscar Ramirez and

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<v Speaker 1>this has been your daily coronavirus update. Don't forget that.

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<v Speaker 1>For today's big news stories, you can check me out

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<v Speaker 1>on the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday, so

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<v Speaker 1>follow us in I Heart radio or wherever you get

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