SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, (THEWILL) – There is currently no evidence to support the belief that people who have recovered from coronavirus (COVID-19) are immune to the virus and may not catch it again, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
The United Kingdom’s Daily Mirror quoted senior WHO epidemiologists as warning that despite the hopes governments across the world have piled on antibody tests, there is no proof those who have been infected cannot be infected again.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, an American infectious disease epidemiologist, who works for WHO, Dr Maria van Kerkhove, said, “There are a lot of countries that are suggesting using rapid diagnostic serological tests to be able to capture what they think will be a measure of immunity.
“Right now, we have no evidence that the use of a serological test can show that an individual has immunity or is protected from reinfection.
“These antibody tests will be able to measure that level of seroprevalence – that level of antibodies. But that does not mean that somebody with antibodies means that they are immune.”
She said it was “a good thing” that so many tests were being developed, but cautioned, “We need to ensure that they are validated so that we know what they say they attempt to measure they are actually measuring.”
Kerkhove’s colleague, Dr Michael Ryan, said the antibody tests also raised ethical questions.
“There are serious ethical issues around the use of such an approach and we need to address it very carefully, we also need to look at the length of protection that antibodies might give,” Ryan said.
“You might have someone who believes they are seropositive (have been infected) and protected in a situation where they may be exposed and, in fact, they are susceptible to the disease.”
