LAST
LAST WEEK, CRUSH THE CURVE IDAHO, THE NON- PROFIT WITH DOCTOR
TOMMMY AHLQUIST AS
THE FRONT
MAN...ANNOUNCED -- IN
ADDITION TO OFFERING
COVID-19 TESTING TO
ANYONE WHO WANTS IT
-- THEY WOULD ALSO BE
OFFERING ANTIBODY
TESTING...TO ANYONE
WHO WANTS TO PAY FOR
IT.
THAT'S THE TEST TO
DETERMINE IF YOU EVER
HAD CORONOVIRUS...AND
YOUR BODY BUILT UP
ANTIBODIES TO FIGHT IT.
AT
AT ABOUT
AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME...DOCTOR DAVID PATE - WHO IS ON THE STATE
CORONAVIRUS WORKING
GROUP...TOOK TO TWITTER
TO WARN
IDAHOANS...THAT A
POSITIVE ANTIBODY TEST
IS LIKELY FALSE.
THE TWITTER FEUD HIT
ITS STRIDE FRIDAY
NIGHT...WITH DOCTOR
AHLQUIST QUESTIONING
WHETHER DOCTOR PATE'S
COMMENTS WERE
GENUINE...DOCTOR PATE
SAYING HE WASN'T
TRYING TO MAKE THIS
PERSONAL...AND DOCTOR AHLQUIST ASKING THEN WHY IS THIS ESCALATING
OVER TWITTER?
SO WE REACHED OUT TO
BOTH OF THEM TODAY...TO
ASK ABOUT ANTIBODY
TESTING. AND WHY WE
SHOULD...OR SHOULDN'T
BE PUTTING STOCK IN IT.
BUT FIRST....
OK...SO IT'S SUPPOSED TO
BE
BE A
BE A PERFECT TEST. BUT WHAT IS THAT PERFECT TEST SUPPOSED
TO TELL US?
TO UNDERSTAND
THAT...JOE PARRIS ASKED
ANOTHER EXPERT...ABOUT
THE VALUE OF DOING
ANTIBODY TESTING.
ANTIBODY TESTING.
I
I SPOKE
I SPOKE WITH DR. KEN CORNELL AT BOISE STATE. HE RESEARCHES
BIOCHEMISTRY AND
PURSUES RESEARCH IN
ANTIBIOTICS AS WELL AS
OTHER RELATED AREAS.
DR. CORNELL SAYS
ANTIBODY TESTING
DEFINITELY HAS VALUE, WE
JUST NEED TO BE CLEAR
ON WHAT THE TESTS CAN
SHOW.
SHOW.
JOE:
JOE: SO,
JOE: SO, CORONAVIRUS. WHAT IS ANTIBODY TESTING USEFUL FOR?
KEN: THE ANTIBODY
TESTING FOR
CORONAVIRUS IS GOING
TO BE MOST VALUABLE IN
LOOKING AT HOW MUCH
OF THE POPULATION WAS
ACTUALLY EXPOSED.
PATIENTS WHO DON'T
SHOW CLINICAL SIGNS OF
DISEASE, THEY MAY HAVE
CIRCULATING ANTIBODIES,
THAT WOULD TELL YOU
THAT THEY WERE
EXPOSED.
JOE: AND WHY IS THAT
INFORMATION USEFUL,
HOW DOES THAT HELP?
KEN:THAT CAN TELL YOU,
AS A POPULATION, HOW
MANY PEOPLE GOT
EXPOSED VERSUS HOW
MANY PEOPLE CAME
DOWN WITH CLINICAL
DISEASE. THE ANTIBODY
TEST IS NOT GOING TO
HELP YOU ONE DAY AFTER
YOU'VE BEEN EXPOSED TO
THE VIRUS, IT'S GOING TO
TAKE SEVERAL WEEKS FOR
YOU TO MOUNT A
SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF
ANTIBODY RESPONSE FOR
IT TO BE DETECTABLE. IT
WAS A CONCERN THAT
MAYBE, THERE WOULD BE
FALSE POSITIVES, ON THE
ANTIBODY TESTS. THERE'S
A HANDFUL OF DIFFERENT
CORONA VIRUSES
CIRCULATING THAT THEY
MIGHT CROSS REACT AND
THAT
THAT TURNS OUT THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THAT'S THE CASE.
JOE:A LOT HAS ALSO BEEN
MADE
MADE ABOUT THE SENSITIVITY OF THE TESTS, SOME ARE 96% ACCURATE,
SOME ARE 99.9%
ACCURATE. IS THERE A
THRESHOLD THAT
SHOULD BE MET TO USING
THESE
THESE TESTS IS 96% AS GOOD AS 99% IN THIS CASE OR IS THAT LIKE A
WORLD APART?
KEN: NO, THOSE ARE NOT
A WORLD APART. FROM
MY
MY PERSPECTIVE, BOTH OF THOSE ARE PRETTY SIMILAR AND ACTUALLY
REMARKABLY GOOD
CONSIDERING THAT WE'RE
GOING AFTER SOMETHING
THAT WE'VE ONLY KNOWN
ABOUT FOR A FEW
MONTHS.
JOE: SOMETHING IS
BETTER THAN NOTHING IN
TERMS
TERMS OF
TERMS OF PERCENTAGE WISE? KEN: OH, CERTAINLY, BUT
UNDERSTAND TO WHAT
THE PURPOSE OF THIS
ANTIBODY TEST IS GOING
TO BE.
JOE: WHAT IS THE MOST
USEFUL PART ABOUT
THESE ANTIBODY TESTS?
KEN: WHO HAS BEEN
EXPOSED IN THE
POPULATION AS A WHOLE.
AND THEN YOU CAN
COMPARE THAT TO RATES
OF WHO ACTUALLY CAME
DOWN
DOWN WITH
DOWN WITH CLINICAL SYMPTOMS. IF WE SEE THAT WE HAVE A VERY
LARGE NUMBER OF THE
POPULATION THAT HAS A
POSITIVE ANTIBODY
RESPONSE THAT MEANS
THAT THEY MOUNTED
ENOUGH OF AN IMMUNE
RESPONSE THAT THEY
WILL HAVE THESE
CIRCULATING ANTIBODIES
AROUND. THAT WE HAVE
A
A LARGE
A LARGE POPULATION THAT ACTUALLY HAS ANTIBODIES THEN WE
CAN BE MORE SECURE
THAT WE'RE PAST THE
WORST OF THE
PANDEMIC.
PANDEMIC.
HOW
HOW LONG
HOW LONG DO THESE TESTS TAKE TO GET RESULTS?
FAST.
RESULTS? FAST.
FAST.