Scientific research

Serological assays for the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the blood

HKU SPH researchers described in their article published in Eurosurveillance the development, evaluation, and validation of serological assays for a screening and confirmation strategy that is applicable in large-scale sero-epidemiological studies. After comparing three assays: the IgG ELISA binding assay that targets the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor binding protein, the microneutralisation assay and plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNT), they concluded that using IgG ELISA based on the RBD of the spike protein to screen sera for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, followed by confirmation using PRNT, is a reliable approach for large-scale epidemiological studies, which are important to assess attack rates of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the population, estimate disease severity, and assess population immunity against the virus.

Read more about this paper here:
https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.16.2000421

# disease severity and immunity