SARS-CoV-2 infection serology: a useful tool to overcome lockdown?
Marzia Nuccetelli, Massimo Pieri, Sandro Grelli, Marco Ciotti, Roberto Miano, Massimo Andreoni & Sergio Bernardini
Cell Death Discovery volume 6, Article number: 38 (2020)
Abstract
The outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 has spread rapidly, inducing a progressive growth in infected patients number. Social isolation (lockdown) has been assessed to prevent and control virus diffusion, leading to a worldwide financial and political crisis. Currently, SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in nasopharyngeal swab takes place by real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). However, molecular tests can give some false-negative results. In this context, serological assays can be useful to detect IgG/IgM antibodies, to assess the degree of immunization, to trace the contacts, and to support the decision to re-admit people at work. A lot of serological diagnostic kits have been proposed on the market but validation studies have not been published for many of them.
