The guidelines for the use of serological examination for "Covid-19", issued by health authorities in the country, identified only three cases that should be limited to the use of serological tests for antibodies, including support for clinical diagnosis in the case of late illness with a negative PCR examination from 9 days to 14 days, support for the diagnosis of children with multi-systematic inflammatory syndrome, or cases that appear late in the course of the disease, in addition to choosing the recovery screening "recovery plasma donors" for use in treating the injured.
According to the evidence, serological antibody testing should not be used to diagnose acute infection or make decisions about returning to the workplace, and it is also important to know that mutual interaction with other coronaviruses may lead to false positive results.
The National Reference Laboratory in Abu Dhabi confirmed that antibody tests or what is known as serological tests provide useful information for treating the disease and analyzing its spread, in addition to providing potential benefits to help in planning human resources in companies and societies.
The executive vice president and head of the laboratory's scientific department, Dr. Leila Abdel-Wareth, stated that the aim of the new tests is not to replace the widely-dependent, polymerase-chain reaction polymerase RT-PCR test, but to enhance the complementarity between the two types of tests to reach the best results.
She said: «While research is still ongoing, the results of the serological tests can help the human resources departments in the basic services facilities with high risks, such as health care and home nursing, to determine the appropriate personnel for various tasks and places, depending on whether they have antibodies Against (Covid-19) virus or not, and thus ensuring their protection from infection ”, stressing that there should be no change in the use of personal protective equipment by health care workers.
Abdel-Wareth indicated that it is necessary to continue to be cautious and not fully assured if the results of the antibody tests are positive, explaining that «anyone can perform these tests to determine whether he was infected with the virus and antibodies were developed in his body, but it should not in any way Ignore the precautions, especially since more studies are still needed on the protective nature of antibodies.
For his part, the laboratory's CEO, Abdul Hamid Al-Ubaisi, stated that the potential uses of serological tests will become increasingly important over time, indicating that the true value of serological tests will become more clear when we obtain more scientific evidence regarding the preventive nature of antibodies, in addition To the level of focus and continuity of this protection.
Al-Ubaisi stressed that the development and launch of the new form of serological tests are consistent with the laboratory's goals by expanding the range of services it provides to meet the needs of the government and society in understanding the nature of the virus, and thus limiting its spread and its implications, pointing out that since the beginning of the disease outbreak, the laboratory has worked to enhance its ability to conduct greater numbers of tests Reverse transcription polymerase interacted significantly, as well as adding rapid testing technology and new software analysis tools.
National reference laboratory
The CEO of the National Reference Laboratory, Abd al-Hamid al-Ubisi, confirmed that the laboratory reviewed many new serological tests and chose its own test group based on the high levels of specificity that confirm the accuracy of the test, and the selected group is characterized by a unique rate of more than 99.5%, pointing out that the laboratory has the capabilities And resources to analyze and deliver results within a few hours. Laboratory experts indicated that serological results provide important lighting for clinical treatment purposes, such as the diagnosis of Covid-19 virus infection for patients whose diagnosis is later 9 to 14 days after infection, and information from serological tests can be used to analyze informed data Epidemics around the emerging coronavirus, helping governments and health agencies to put in place preventive policies and reduce the impact of the disease.