COVID-19 Testing Services

Antibody or serology tests if you had a past infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.

*   Antibodies are created soon after you have been infected or vaccinated.
*   Antibodies help you fight off infections and can protect you from getting that disease again

Types of Antibody Testing

Binding antibody detection:

The use – to detect individual antibody types, like IgG, IgM, and IgA.

• IgM is most useful for determining recent infection as it usually becomes undetectable weeks to months following infection
• IgG may remain detectable for months or years
• IgA is important for mucosal immunity and can be detected in mucous secretions like saliva in addition to blood

Neutralizing antibody detection:

The use of neutralization tests for SARS-CoV-2 – to determine the functional ability of antibodies to prevent infection of virus in vitro.

Antibody tests should not be used to diagnose a current infection with the virus that causes COVID-19, except in instances in which viral testing is delayed. An antibody test may not show if you have a current infection because it can take 1–3 weeks after the infection for your body to make antibodies.

For more information on antibody testing and its use, visit the CDC website by clicking this link.

What do your antibody test results mean?

If you test positive

• A positive test result shows you may have antibodies from an infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.
• Having antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 may provide protection from getting infected with the virus again. But even if it does, we do not know how much protection the antibodies may provide or how long this protection may last.
• Talk with your healthcare provider about your test result and the type of test you took to understand what your result means. Your provider may suggest you take a second type of antibody test to see if the first test was accurate.
• You may test positive for antibodies even if you have never had symptoms of COVID-19. This can happen if you had an infection without symptoms, which is called asymptomatic infection.

If you test negative

• You may not have ever had COVID-19.
• 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. This means you could still spread the virus.
• Some people may take even longer to develop antibodies, and some people who are infected may not ever develop antibodies.
• If you get symptoms after the antibody test, you might need another test called a viral test​.

Visit the CDC website for more information on antibody testing.