Avera St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre is among the various Avera QuickLab and Avera clinic locations around the region now offering antibody testing for COVID-19.
President and Chief Medical Officer for Avera St. Mary’s Dr. Mikel Holland says the blood test may detect whether someone has been exposed to COVID-19. He says antibodies show up in the blood of someone who has already recovered from COVID-19, or in someone who has been exposed to COVID-19 in the past but never developed symptoms.
Holland says testing for antibodies is new and its usefulness is still being evaluated. He says researchers don’t know yet whether having antibodies means a person is immune to COVID-19. The test involves a quick blood draw and results take up to 24 hours to appear in the patient’s AveraChart electronic medical record. Results will also be mailed out within a few days.
There are three possible results:
• Reactive (positive): suggests but does not confirm the person might have been exposed to COVID-19 and has developed an immune response.
• Equivocal: test shows a small amount of antibodies, but not enough for a “reactive” result.
• Non-reactive (negative): test shows no exposure.
Holland says people should understand a ‘reactive’ or positive result does not mean a person definitely has immunity to COVID-19 and won’t become ill with the virus. He says the antibody test is not for finding active COVID-19 infections. Those are done via a nasal swab.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says antibody tests are most useful in watching the spread of COVID-19, as these tests can show how many people in a given group or area might have been infected. The CDC does not recommend antibody tests be used in making health care decisions.
Direct-to-consumer COVID-19 antibody tests are not covered by health insurance, and Avera QuickLabs or clinics will not send in claims for these tests. However, these tests are reimbursable through flexible spending accounts (FSA) or health savings accounts (HSA). The $80 fee for the test is payable at the time of the test with a credit or debit card.
The test is available at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital lab or any Avera QuickLab location listed on Avera.org/quicklabs.
