The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) authorised the use of a rapid COVID-19 serological test that would be distributed by seven licence holders.

In collaboration with the COVID-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee, the Department of Health this week released recommended protocols for these tests.

COVID-19 antibody tests indicate whether a person has developed antibodies against the disease following exposure to the coronavirus.

However, Professor Jonny Myers, occupational health and public health medicine specialist at the University of Cape Town (UCT), explained that COVID-19 antibodies waned over time.

“If you contract the COVID-19 and your symptomatic or asymptomatic after you are diagnosed, it raises to a maximum concentration level of about three weeks after which it declines pretty rapidly. Within 30 days it can decline,” Myers said.

Myers said that the timing of these tests could greatly affect the results.

“Because of the time dependence of the antibodies in relation to you being infected, there is a high degree of false negatives with these tests. They are called rapid diagnostic tests, but there aren’t diagnostic, which is very confusing,” he said.

These antibody tests identify past exposure to SARS-CoV-2, optimally at 21-days after a person has been infected.

A negative antibody test does not rule out past COVID-19 exposure, as some patients could not form detectable antibodies, especially following an asymptomatic infection.

Eyewitness News