The Shepherd Express' daily COVID-19 updates are sponsored by the Muslim Community and Health Center (803 W. Layton Ave.). The mission of MCHC is to provide quality healthcare to under-served populations in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin using the core values of respect, stewardship, compassion, ethics, teamwork and above all quality. You can read all daily updates here.
In the coming weeks, Wisconsin DHS will launch it’s first efforts into COVID-19 antibody testing.
The goal of antibody testing is to identify people who have been infected in the past.
Up until now, the state agency has focused its COVID-19 testing efforts toward diagnostic (or viral) testing. The most common diagnostic tests for COVID-19 involve taking a sample inside a person’s respiratory, typically done with a cotton swab in the nose.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “antibody tests check your blood by looking for antibodies, which can show if you had a past infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. Antibodies are proteins that help fight off infections and usually provide protection against getting that disease again (immunity).”
This new effort is a partnership between Wisconsin DHS; the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, which operates an ongoing study called the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW); and the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene.
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“The goal will be to recruit volunteers in 10 counties around the state using the infrastructure that the SHOW study has already established,” says Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer and state epidemiologist for communicable diseases with Wisconsin DHS. “The volunteers will provide a blood sample which will be tested for antibodies. Then in an anonymous way we will analyze these specimens to know how many people have been infected cumulatively in areas around the state.”
The testing will begin in June and the plan is to perform additional waves of antibody testing every three to four months for the next year so state health officials can understand better how the epidemic has changed over time.
The project is being funded by the CDC.
Also, starting this week all blood, platelet and plasma donations collected by the Red Cross will receive an antibody test.
The Shepherd Express' daily COVID-19 updates are sponsored by the Muslim Community and Health Center (803 W. Layton Ave.). You can read all daily updates here.
