Johns Hopkins report calls for national antibody testing strategy in United States

In a new report titled Developing a National Strategy for Serology in the United States, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security argued for the creation of a national antibody testing strategy in the United States to counteract the spread of COVID-19.

One of the major problems for the U.S. response to the disease has been in testing — reports of shortages have abounded since the federal government first began to respond. The Johns Hopkins report reaffirmed that accurate, validated tests are needed to properly conduct surveillance and estimate the number of infected people nationwide. While many tests abound now, many are also not providing accurate results.

Serology — antibody testing — can be used to identify whether people were previously infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, Johns Hopkins noted. This is true, regardless of asymptomatic qualities.

The report also called for research into immunity, as many experts are flying on the assumption currently — assumption that people will develop some level of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 following recovery. Without research, no one knows for certain, and such research would help determine whether specific antibody levels coincide with immunity, as well as how long immunity actually lasts.

Further, the authors cautioned that the use of immunity certificates — a sort of proposed doctor’s note that would advertise a person’s survival and supposed immunity from COVID-19 — should not be pursued until the prior two points are addressed. Nor should they be issued until seroprevalence studies are performed, as additional challenges include a host of ethical, legal, and public health implications.