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What’s it like to get a COVID-19 antibody test?

PITTSBURGH — More than 195,000 people have contracted COVID-19 in Pennsylvania since the pandemic started, according to the Department of Health.

In all, 78% of patients recovered from the virus, including Channel 11′s Ryan Houston.

“I couldn’t get out of bed. My chest started to harden, and it was hard to breathe,” said Houston.

Houston tested positive for COVID-19 in early April and was experiencing multiple symptoms, except for a fever. “I’m drinking lots of fluids, eating soup, cough syrup and drinking tea,” said Houston.

After staying at home in quarantine for nearly three weeks, Houston returned to work.

Four months later, Houston started to wonder if he would have any protection from the virus if it returned.

Houston went to LabCorp in McKees Rocks for an antibody test.

“I hope this doesn’t hurt,” said Houston as a needle was being inserted into his arm.

The nurse tied Houston’s arm up and drew one vial of blood to send off for testing.

“The antibody tests here at LabCorp took less than five minutes, and I am supposed to have the results in three to five days. We are trying to find out if I — and the thousands of others — can get the virus again,” said Houston.

And the results came back positive for COVID-19 antibodies.

“The antibody test shows that you had an infection with COVID-19 and that your immune system has reacted to it. And those antibodies are evidence that your body did battle with this virus,” said Houston.

So does that mean Houston could be diagnosed with COVID-19 again?

“We don’t know exactly how long the antibodies provide protection. I would say for at least several months after you’ve been infected, maybe up to three months or so. It’s very unlikely that you’ll be reinfected. There have been some reports, but those are rare. There are exceptions to this rule,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja.

So why is it necessary for Houston and others to get an antibody test?

“The antibodies help us understand who’s been infected, so that can give us an idea how far a virus spread in a given community, which helps us understand what to expect and how widespread the infection was at the very beginning,” said Adalja.

And just because you have antibodies for the coronavirus in your system doesn’t mean you are immune to the virus.

If you’ve recovered from COVID-19 are interested in donating your plasma, click here to visit the Vitalant’s website