The difference between antibody detection and nucleic acid detection

According to the report of the British "Nature" website on the 26th, British government officials said that the United Kingdom may carry out large-scale coronavirus antibody testing in the next few days to determine who has been infected with the new coronavirus and has antibodies. If everything goes according to plan, the UK may become the first country to carry out such tests on a large scale at home. Antibody testing is to detect the level of antibodies in human blood. The average time is 15 to 60 minutes. It can be tested by the people at home. It can be widely used in a short period of time. Therefore, there is a detection window period and therefore cannot replace nucleic acid detection. However, the researchers warn that it will be a huge challenge to correctly verify the accuracy of such tests and to manufacture test kits on a large scale.
On the 25th, British government officials said that the UK has ordered 3.5 million antibody test kits and plans to order millions more. The test method will analyze blood drops to determine who has been infected with the new coronavirus and has antibodies-regardless of whether they have symptoms of new coronary pneumonia, which will help researchers better understand how the new virus spreads.
Sharon Peacock, director of the National Infection Service of the British Department of Public Health (PHE), said that people should be able to receive these "serological tests" in a few days instead of weeks or months. Peacock pointed out that such tests can be performed at home, but these test reagents have not yet arrived.
孔雀说，PHE正在评估新测试，以确保它们满足要求，评估将在本周末结束。但是英国伯明翰大学的免疫学家戴维·韦尔斯（David Wyles）表示，测试工具包的供应仍然有限。在全球大流行期间，对公司制造数百万个测试以确保政府供应是一个巨大的挑战。目前尚不清楚哪家公司负责开发此类测试。PHE发言人说，政府正在与许多公司进行谈判。
A few days ago, Feng Luzhao, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press conference that new coronary pneumonia detection reagents mainly include two types, one is nucleic acid detection reagents, and the other is antibody detection reagents. Nucleic acid detection is the direct detection of viral nucleic acid in collected samples, with strong specificity and relatively high sensitivity, and is currently the main detection method. Antibody testing is to detect the level of antibodies in the human blood. In the early stages of disease infection, the body may not have produced antibodies, so it has a window of detection.
Compared with nucleic acid detection, the advantage of antibody detection is that it is not limited by the detection conditions, can be widely promoted in a short time, and can be screened for a wide range, which is essential for evaluating and mastering the epidemic situation and taking follow-up measures.
Previously, France mainly adopted nucleic acid testing, but due to the lack of medical materials such as masks and protective clothing, a large number of laboratories were unable to invest in testing, which greatly weakened the national testing capacity. The antibody test is easy to operate and can be tested by the people at home, which can be widely promoted in a short time.
Professor Drosten from Germany introduced that so far, German medical and health institutions usually use fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the specific sequence of the new coronavirus, and thus to confirm whether the patient is infected with the new coronavirus. Due to the complicated operation of this nucleic acid detection process, strict requirements are imposed on sampling and testing personnel, laboratories and kits. During the operation process, it is also necessary to prevent the risk of aerosol contamination on the detection personnel, so it is difficult to increase it in a large scale in a short period Test ability.
Drosten认为，有超过40万人被诊断出全球范围，除了PCR测试外，抗体测试也非常重要。感染了新的冠状病毒后，患者需要大约10天的时间来开发抗体，然后再越来越多。确切地知道免疫系统具有多少中和抗体对于疫苗的开发和测试非常重要。