We Thought We Had COVID-19 In January, But What Do Our Antibodies Say?

June 24, 2020 at 11:26 AM PDT

Speaker 1: 00:01 Speaker 2: 00:01 Speaker 1: 00:20 Speaker 3: 00:29 Speaker 1: 00:36 Speaker 3: 00:39 Speaker 1: 00:52 Speaker 3: 00:59 Speaker 1: 01:11 Speaker 3: 01:29 Speaker 1: 01:31 Speaker 3: 02:22 Speaker 1: 02:32 Speaker 3: 02:52 Speaker 1: 02:56 Speaker 4: 03:12 Speaker 1: 03:14 Speaker 4: 03:42 Speaker 1: 03:46 Speaker 4: 03:50 Speaker 1: 03:54 Speaker 4: 03:57 Speaker 1: 04:05 Once You don't know now and might never know is exactly when the coronavirus first arrived in California. This reality has led to rampant speculation that the disease was spreading much earlier than the first confirmed case. At the end of January, KPBS reported Claire triggers. Her has the story of the rampant speculation inside her own family. We probably all know someone who thinks they had COVID-19 back in January for me. I know someone like that pretty well. What's your title? My title is Claire's husband. My husband Seth was really sick in mid January. You have to force yourself to stop coughing and breathe because you've run out of air. And you're you gasp for, for you for breath. Then about a month later, the Corona virus showed up in the U S and we all started paying close attention to it. You kind of wonder if those sudden and unusual illnesses that you had recently could be attributable to that. So we decided to check it out by Claire I'm Gina. We went to the LA Jolla Institute for immunology, which right now is leading a global study, searching for antibodies from people who have survived Corona virus, Probably this one, A nurse there took blood samples from both of us, put them in a centrifuge and pass them off to dr. Jen Dan and infectious disease researcher. She began what's called an Elisa, a way of testing the blood samples to see whether they contained specific antibodies. She would compare our blood to other samples from people who had survived coronavirus and people who hadn't been infected. If we had the same antibodies as the survivors, that would strongly suggest we had also had COVID-19 the test would take 24 hours to complete. So we'd have to wait another day to know whether our suspicions were founded. There are a lot of unknowns. Dr. Erica omen Sapphire is the director of the global antibody consortium at LA Jolla Institute for immunology Gene. What we most need to know is whether the antibody response is protective, whether having those antibodies in board mean that you're not going to get sick again, sapphires, It says the evidence suggests people with antibodies likely have immunity, but they don't know how much or how long it lasts. The research she's leading is working to find the very best antibodies from COVID survivors, which will be used to treat COVID and hopefully prevent it in the first place. Uh, sorry. I'm not even really thinking though. Is there something I'm supposed to be nervous? The next day we came back to the Institute and watched dr. Jen Dan finished the test during the last step, she added a colorless solution to reveal the presence of antibodies. If they were there, the mixture would turn, Wait about 10 minutes for it to develop. I kept peering over the tiny plates of test tubes, hoping for two blues, dr. Dan had a great poker face and not just because she was wearing a mask, she didn't give any hint of what she thought and then took the samples away to analyze them on her computer. After what seemed like a really long time, she came back and went over them with dr. Shane Crotty and infectious disease expert. At the end, I will pull it up, Seem like a doctor who is very good at giving back. Here's Claire who sent, and then here are the two positives, Meaning we definitely had not had coronavirus. This certainly fits with the timeline in California, that there weren't any confirmed cases in California. What are the results of our trip to the lab mean to you? They mean the, despite what your friend, your neighbor, or your husband might be telling you, it's highly unlikely that anyone in San Diego had COVID-19 before February Claire Traeger, sir. KPBS news.

By KPBS Public Media

At this point no one knows exactly when the coronavirus first arrived in California, which has led to rampant speculation that the disease was spreading much earlier than the first confirmed case at the end of January.