Serum antibody testing revealed Chinese new coronavirus infections in these groups

LONDON, June 8 (Xinhua Zhang Jiawei) A new study published in the British journal Nature Medicine said that by testing the level of neo-coronavirus-specific antibodies in serum, researchers analyzed the rate of viral infection in different regions of China and different populations, and the results could help to better understand the status of Chinese groups infected with the new coronavirus.
Researchers from the National Center for Clinical Research in Nephrology of Southern Medical University of China and the School of Medicine of Macao University of Science and Technology surveyed the levels of neo-coronavirus-specific antibodies in the serums of various populations in Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guangdong and other regions, mainly testing the total positive rates of IgG and IgM antibodies in their serums. The survey was conducted from 9 March to 10 April 2020 and 17,368 people were tested.Professor Zhang Kang of the Macao University of Science and Technology, one of the lead authors of the
report, told Xinhua that the properties of the two antibodies, IgG and IgM, are different, the former is mainly used to determine whether an individual has been infected in an earlier period of time, while the latter is mainly used to determine the recent infection status, the sum of the positive rates of the two can help accurately evaluate the overall infection status of the new coronavirus.
survey results show that in Wuhan, the total serum antibody positive rate of the population is 3.8%, and the farther away from Wuhan, the population's serum antibody positive rate is lower, for example, the total antibody-positive rate of 9442 residents tested in Chengdu area is only 0.58%.Zhang Kang,
, said that the new coronavirus is a new, highly contagious virus, the human body after exposure to the virus, regardless of clinical symptoms, the immune system will respond accordingly, to produce specific antibodies against the virus. However, it is not clear whether the detected antibodies are protective.