I’m curious why these studies—which also measure antibody development along with protection from the virus—doesn’t tell us much of the efficacy of antibody tests. Clearly it doesn’t (or else we’d be hearing about that as well), but why?
Good question. This has to do with the fact that we currently do not know what parts of the immune response to the virus actually protect us from the virus. So while an antibody response shows that we have been infected, we do not know if it is a correlate of protection—something which is associated with a protective effect against future infection.
I’m curious why these studies—which also measure antibody development along with protection from the virus—doesn’t tell us much of the efficacy of antibody tests. Clearly it doesn’t (or else we’d be hearing about that as well), but why?
Good question. This has to do with the fact that we currently do not know what parts of the immune response to the virus actually protect us from the virus. So while an antibody response shows that we have been infected, we do not know if it is a correlate of protection—something which is associated with a protective effect against future infection.