T_R_Oglodyte
TUG Lifetime Member
COVID-19 Antibody, IgG result "nonreactive" - i.e., negative.
The University of Washington has developed this test - and it is being deployed to assist health care providers in patient care and to build up information on the general prevalence of the novel corona virus in the population. Getting tested requires an order from a Primary Care Provider. So., at the suggestion of a MD friend, I scheduled a Zoom meeting yesterday morning with my physician. He issued the order. Two hours later I had a blood sample drawn, and eight hours later was notified of the results.
I was told that the test is extremely sensitive, and because of the sensitivity is far more likely to produce a false positive than a false negative. It's also a simple Yes/No, so it gives no indication of the amount of antibody present, or when the infection might have occurred.
Part of the impetus was that back in March, about the time Washington issued SIP requirements, and the pandemic was starting to take off in Washington, I had a mild respiratory infection. We're also not far from the epicenter of the initially identified infection cluster in Snohomish County, and had transited through Everett airport (in Snohomish County) about two weeks earlier (aligning with the virus incubation period). I was in regular communication with my health providers, and triage determined that I wasn't sick enough to warrant a call-in, but I was requested to quarantine myself. After several days of mild respiratory distress, my temperature started rising about late one afternoon. The next morning it was up some more, and by noon time I was noticeably feverish - some body ache, shivering, loss of energy, no appetite, mild nausea. My temp was now at 100 °F. Triage said to keep monitoring and if I hit 101 °F to let them know. By 6 pm I was feeling better, and by 10 pm was completely back to normal. Since then, everything was fine, but I thought, and my physician concurred, that given my history I was a good candidate to have been tested.
Had I come back positive that would have been an interesting outcome. Because apart from transiting the Everett airport, the most likely places for me to have been infected would have been Zihuatanejo, MX, or the plane flight back to Everett. And if I had been infected in Zihua or on the plane, that would have meant the virus was in that region of Mexico at that time.
The University of Washington has developed this test - and it is being deployed to assist health care providers in patient care and to build up information on the general prevalence of the novel corona virus in the population. Getting tested requires an order from a Primary Care Provider. So., at the suggestion of a MD friend, I scheduled a Zoom meeting yesterday morning with my physician. He issued the order. Two hours later I had a blood sample drawn, and eight hours later was notified of the results.
I was told that the test is extremely sensitive, and because of the sensitivity is far more likely to produce a false positive than a false negative. It's also a simple Yes/No, so it gives no indication of the amount of antibody present, or when the infection might have occurred.
Part of the impetus was that back in March, about the time Washington issued SIP requirements, and the pandemic was starting to take off in Washington, I had a mild respiratory infection. We're also not far from the epicenter of the initially identified infection cluster in Snohomish County, and had transited through Everett airport (in Snohomish County) about two weeks earlier (aligning with the virus incubation period). I was in regular communication with my health providers, and triage determined that I wasn't sick enough to warrant a call-in, but I was requested to quarantine myself. After several days of mild respiratory distress, my temperature started rising about late one afternoon. The next morning it was up some more, and by noon time I was noticeably feverish - some body ache, shivering, loss of energy, no appetite, mild nausea. My temp was now at 100 °F. Triage said to keep monitoring and if I hit 101 °F to let them know. By 6 pm I was feeling better, and by 10 pm was completely back to normal. Since then, everything was fine, but I thought, and my physician concurred, that given my history I was a good candidate to have been tested.
Had I come back positive that would have been an interesting outcome. Because apart from transiting the Everett airport, the most likely places for me to have been infected would have been Zihuatanejo, MX, or the plane flight back to Everett. And if I had been infected in Zihua or on the plane, that would have meant the virus was in that region of Mexico at that time.
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