My Coronavirus Tale

Jeffrey A. SingerThe hospital at which I work offered antibody serology tests to all medical staff last Wednesday. The test detects IgG, the immunoglobulin that appears in the blood serum of people infected with COVID-19sometime beyond 14 days from the time of infection. The hospital uses the Abbott LabsArchitectserology test,whichshows 99.6 percent specificity and 100 percent sensitivity, meaning false negatives and false positives are highly unlikely. A positive IgG test means the person tested was previously infected with COVID-19.In many medical centers, clinical researchers are transfusing seriously ill COVID-19 patients with plasma containing the IgG from previously infected patients, known as “convalescent serum, ” with very encouraging resultsThe following day I received a phone call from the hospital ’s medical officer informing me I tested positive. I cannot recall ever having any symptoms: no fever, cough, unusual fatigue, loss of sense of smell or taste, etc.In my medical practice I interact with numerous patients who may or not be contagious. Our clinicians and staff take all of the recommended precautions (masks, frequent handwashing, disinfecting surfaces, screening patients for fever and/ ​or symptoms). Based upon the IgG findings, I likely became infected with COVID-19 at least 3 or 4 weeks ago, possibly even a couple of months ago.When I told my wife about my positive test result she we...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs