What are antibodies? When do they develop?
Answers
Answer:
You could have a current infection or been recently infected. The test may be negative because it typically takes 1–3 weeks after infection for your body to make antibodies. It's possible you could still get sick if you have been exposed to the virus recently. This means you could still spread the virus.
Answer:
Antibody tests check your blood by looking for antibodies, which may tell you if you had a past infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. Antibodies are proteins that help fight off infections and can provide protection against getting that disease again (immunity). Antibodies are disease specific. For example, measles antibodies will protect you from getting measles if you are exposed to it again, but they won’t protect you from getting mumps if you are exposed to mumps.
Antibody tests should not be used to diagnose a current COVID-19 infection, except in instances in which viral testing is delayed. An antibody test may not show if you have a current COVID-19 infection because it can take 1–3 weeks after infection for your body to make antibodies.
Explanation: