Chennai: India’s fourth largest pathology player, Neuberg Diagnostics, has announced the launch of Covid-19 antibody test.
After getting approval from ICMR, Neuberg is now conducting RT-PCR test from six of its labs across India. The Covid antibody test helps to check for the presence or absence of antibodies against SARS CoV2 virus, in the human body.
These antibodies can be found in blood of persons previously exposed to the virus, both symptomatic and asymptomatic. Our immune system produces these antibodies when it is exposed to the virus and needs to fight the infection. The test is meant for sero-surveillance purposes to understand if a person has been infected in the recent past.
Commenting on the development, Dr Sujay Prasad, medical director, Neuberg Diagnostics said, “antibodies are proteins that are meant to fight off infections. Neuberg’s antibody tests will look for IgM antibodies (which appear early in the course of illness) and IgG antibodies (likely to show up later), the two kinds of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 separately or as total antibodies (combined IgM and IgG).”
He added: “The IgM antibody appears after 5 to 8 days of exposure to the virus, while the IgG antibody usually shows up after 12 to 14 days of infection. This test will also help to know if a person is eligible to be considered as a donor for plasma therapy.”