Questions and Answers (FAQ)
- there are many kinds of tests that are available to the public. What are the different kinds of tests available to us and how we should choose?
There are three categories of testing, if I would want to simplify them.
The first one is to identify whether the actual COVID virus genetic material exists, and that’s called a NAAT test, N-A-A-T. And it’s the PCR testing where you would have a nasal pharyngeal swab or a pharyngeal swab taken. And then they look for the genetic material of the virus itself.
The second type of testing is when they try to identify one of the outer proteins of the viral shell or envelope, if you will. And that’s called antigen tests https://aripa-biotec.com/portfolio/antigen-schnelltest/. So, they try to detect the outer protein of the virus.
And the third type is to detect within the human body, whether they’ve developed antibodies. So, it looks for antibodies that are specific to the outer portion of the virus itself. So, it shows whether the individual has mounted an immune response or developed immunity towards that specific virus or to COVID. And this’s called antibody tests.https://aripa-biotec.com/portfolio/anti-sars-cov-2-multi-antikoerper-igg-nab-test/
Antigen tests and antibody tests are totally different. They use different way to detect different elements. Below please see the difference between antigen tests and antibody tests.
So, those are the three big categories of testing that exist.
- We hear the terms antigens and antibodies a lot. What are they?
The antigens are the proteins that exist on the outer shell of the virus itself. So, it’s part of the virus itself. Antibodies are produced by the human body against those specific antigens. So, that’s the simple way of understanding the two.
- How about the value of getting tested?
There are several aspects of that.
The first one is to identify whether a person has the disease or not. And that’s important to be able to provide therapy, treatment, but also to specify who do we need to go and test further of the contacts of that specific person. So that’s a big value to address the pandemic.
When we talk about the value of the antibody testing, they become very important to know whether the person was exposed in the past. And, when you hear about understanding the immunity of the population, if you will, that is done through antibody testing.
