COVID-19 antibody tests not backed by solid data

Studies assessing the accuracy of COVID-19 antibody tests had major shortcomings, an analysis released on Thursday found, indicating that existing research does not prove the tests can confirm with certainty whether people have been infected with the novel coronavirus. Cochrane, a British-based journal that reviews research evidence, looked at 54 studies that sought to measure the reliability of the antibody blood tests.

The studies were often small, did not use the most reliable methods, and their results were often incomplete, the analysis found. The analyzed studies looked at nearly 16,000 blood samples, 89% of which had a high risk of bias because patients were unlikely to match the general population. The review identified data from 25 commercial COVID-19 tests, a fraction of the roughly 300 such tests that exist. The review did not include tests offered by Roche or Abbott Laboratories, which were approved by regulators after the analysis began.

Reuters