When an infectious disease outbreak comes to be, the ideal response is for health care officials to begin testing for it early.
This would lead to quick identification of the cases, quick treatment for people infected and immediate isolation to prevent further spread. Early testing would also help to identify anyone who has come in contact with infected people so they too can be treated.
Testing is also very important in the larger public health picture on relief efforts, helping investigators to characterize the prevalence, spread and contagiousness of the disease.
Types of Tests
- Viral Test
- Antibody Test
This test tells if you have a current infection. Two types of viral tests that can be carried out are the nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) and the antigen tests.
It tests samples from your nose or your mouth to find out if you are presently infected with the virus that results in COVID-19 and the test can be performed in a laboratory, at a testing site, at home, or anywhere else.
If you have a positive viral test:
- Isolate for at least ten days even if you do not show symptoms
- If you develop symptoms afterwards, continue to isolate for additional ten days after symptoms begin
- Even though many people may develop a mild form of COVID-19 and can recover at home without medical care, contact a healthcare provider if you are likely to get very sick because of being an older adult or have underlying medical conditions
If you have a negative viral result:
- In case you still show symptoms after a negative result, you may have received a false-negative test result and still might have COVID-19. Ensure you isolate yourself from others and reach out to your healthcare provider about follow-up testing and how long to isolate if they worsen.
- In case you test negative and do not show symptoms but you have been in contact with a person with COVID-19, Self-quarantine at home for 14 days after your exposure if you have not been vaccinated.
- If you do not show symptoms of COVID-19 and have not been exposed to anyone with COVID-19, you do not need to self-quarantine.
The Antibody which is also known as the serology test is carried out to look for antibodies in the blood that fight the virus that causes COVID-19.
If you have a positive Antigen Result:
- It will show that you may have antibodies from infection or from vaccination for the virus that causes COVID-19.
- Possibilities of reinfection and infection after vaccination have been reported, but remain unusual. But getting vaccinated, even though you have already had COVID-19, can help your body make more of these antibodies.
- You get a false-positive test result when you test positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies when you do not have specific antibodies.
- In all, make sure you speak with your healthcare professional about your test result and the type of test you took to have an understanding of what your result means and get suggestions for the second type of antibody test to see if the first test was accurate.
If you have a Negative Antigen Result:
- This may be because you have not had an infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 or have not received a COVID-19 vaccine.
- Carrying out Antibody testing is not proposed to determine if you are immune to COVID-19 following COVID-19 vaccination.
- Some antibody tests will only detect antibodies from infection, not from vaccination with the virus that causes COVID-19.
- Discuss with your healthcare professional about your test result and the type of test you took to understand what your result means.