Report: UPMC Close To Completing Blood Test To Determine Immunity To Coronavirus
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are reportedly close to completing a blood test to determine immunity against the virus that causes COVID-19.
According to KDKA's news partners at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the test could identify people who could serve in the front lines of the battle against the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak with little to risk of being infected.
"We are developing an antibody test based on a European test to see if people were exposed and might be immune," Dr. Alan Wells, executive vice-chairman of the Section of Laboratory Medicine in the UPMC Department of Pathology, told the Post-Gazette.
Further testing to be done — at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research under Paul Duprex and the UPMC Infectious Disease Division under John Mellors — will determine if these IgG and IgA antibodies are the immune type that neutralizes the virus to provide protection, Dr. Wells said.
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