Fox 4: Local experts warn of unknowns surrounding most COVID-19 antibody tests

By Shannon O'Brien

The hope that a positive COVID-19 antibodies test means you're now safe from the virus might not be the case.

The rush to push the tests out has caused a new public safety concern for some medical experts.

Only one COVID-19 antibodies test has been approved by the FDA.

On Friday, the agency issued a warning that it doesn't believe the current antibodies tests commercially available could truly distinguish between the different types of coronaviruses.

And the one test the FDA has approved isn't commercially available.

Other tests have been granted a EUA, Emergency Use Order, but doctors warn there isn't scientific data to determine if they work.

“So one of the things that we worry about is for folks that do have a positive antibody test, we don’t know that they’re necessarily immune," said Dr. Jennifer Schuster, pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children’s Mercy Hospital.

“So not only could they get reinfected with COVID-19 potentially and still get sick, they could be reinfected, have minor illness and then unknowingly transmit to somebody who could potentially have severe disease. So we don’t want people relying on these for a false sense of security."

Neither KU Hospital nor Children’s Mercy Hospital is using the available antibodies testing.

See the full story via Fox 4

Learn more COVID-19 information from Children's Mercy