GOVERNOR GINA RAIMONDO ANNOUNCED
LAST MONTH ANTIBODY TESTS HAVE
ARRIVED HERE IN RHODE ISLAND.
THESE ARE THE TESTS THAT DETECT
VIRUS-FIGHTING PROTEINS IN THE
BLOOD OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD
COVID-19.
AND WE'VE BEEN GETTING A LOT OF
QUESTIONS FROM YOU ABOUT THEM --
PATTY ASKS ---
"WHEN WILL ANTIBODY TESTING
BEGIN IN RI?"
WELL PATTY RIGHT NOW, A TEAM OF
PEOPLE IS WORKING TO DETERMINE
HOW THE STATE'S 20,000 ANTIBODY
TESTS WILL BE USED -
BUT FIRST, RESEARCHERS ARE GOING
TO BE WORKING OVER THE NEXT FEW
WEEKS TO ENSURE THOSE TESTS ARE
ACCURATE.
I SPOKE WITH A LOCAL
DOCTOR...WHO'S HELPING LEAD THE
EFFORT HERE.
WITH TESTING FOR COVID-19 STILL
LIMITED IN RHODE ISLAND - HEALTH
LEADERS ARE HOPEFUL ANTIBODY
TESTS WILL PAINT A FULLER
PICTURE OF HOW WIDESPREAD THE
VIRUS ACTUALLY IS.
We need to begin to get an
understanding of just how many
people in the state of Rhode
Island have been infected.
BUT BEFORE THAT CAN HAPPEN -
HEALTH PROFESSIONALS NEED TO
KNOW IF THE TEST WORKS.
DR. ANGELA CALIENDO OF BROWN AND
LIFESPAN IS CO-CHAIRING A TEAM
OF RESEARCHERS WORKING TO DO
THAT.
SHE SAYS AN ACCURATE TEST IS KEY
IN HELPING STATE HEALTH LEADERS
DETERMINE WHAT'S NEXT -- AND A
LARGE NUMBER OF FALSE POSITIVES
COULD SKEW THOSE DECISIONS.
SO FIRST, THEY NEED TO TEST THE
TEST.
To do a good specificity study,
which is to ensure that there
aren't a lot of false positives,
you need a large number of
samples so we're probably going
to have to test 1,000 patients
that were not exposed to the
virus.
The best way to do that is to go
into the freezers in the
clinical laboratory and take out
specimens that were collected on
patients before COVID even
started, so back in the fall,
last summer, when COVID wasn't
circulated.
CALIENDO SAYS THEY'LL ALSO USE
BLOOD FROM PEOPLE WHO TESTED
POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 AT LEAST
TWO WEEKS AGO - SINCE SHE SAYS
IT TAKES THAT LONG TO DEVELOP
ANTIBODIES.
THESE NEW TESTS WILL NOT REPLACE
CURRENT TESTING BEING DONE TO
IDENTIFY ACTIVE COVID-19
INFECTIONS. THEY'RE MEANT TO
IDENTIFY PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN
INFECTED, BUT THEY CAN'T PROMISE
PATIENTS ARE NO LONGER
CONTAGIOUS OR IMMUNE TO
COVID-19.
For some infections, antibody
protect you from getting
infected again. We do not know
if this is the case for COVID.
An antibody test is not a get
out of jail free card. You still
have to be just as cautious as
you would be if you either
didn't know your antibody
status, or your antibody status
came up negative.
ANOTHER TEAM IS LOOKING AT HOW
THE TESTS WILL BE ROLLED OUT -
AND DETERMINING HOW THE STATE
CAN BEST GET A RANDOM SAMPLE.
CALIENDO SAYS THE VALIDATION
