An expert is raising concern over a device set to be launched in pharmacies which aims to measure how protected people are against Covid-19 infection.
Biotech company Orbis Diagnostics yesterday announced it was teaming up with pharmacies to trial an in-store immunity testing device that measures a person’s antibody levels as a result of Covid-19 vaccination.
Antibodies help your body fight infection and the company reckons measuring them will mean people can determine their risk level, but other experts say it is not that simple.
NZ Institute of Medical Laboratory Science president Terry Taylor told Checkpoint all that we knew to be true about antibody levels protecting against the Delta variant were now out the window as we deal with Omicron.
“We're starting again with the data collection, so really, there's no actual peer-reviewed correlation between what we're actually seeing with antibody levels and risk of disease.
“As we all know, the immunity system or our immunology within our bodies is all very complex and every person is slightly different in how they react as well. So, it makes this very difficult to actually predict.”
Taylor said it was also troubling that the tests were being conducted outside of a laboratory-controlled environment and was not going to be run by registered medical laboratory scientists.
“We, in a diagnostic laboratory, have to work in accredited facilities with registered medical practitioners. Now obviously this instrument is just going to be put in a pharmacy, that's not a controlled environment, they’re not an accredited laboratory so that becomes a real issue.
“We don't know how good the test is to be honest.
“I mean, we would be happy to work with these people and assist them in actually working it all up.
“You've got to look at the background here - what sort of work was actually done on this testing regime? And what do the results compare to? In our laboratories, we obviously work towards WHO standards for Covid antibody testing, I mean none of that's been coming out of the information that's coming from this company.”
The other worries were that people would act in ways that could be detrimental once they found out their antibody levels, he said.
“The other problem that we're going to see as well is that if their levels are low, does that mean they're going to turn up at the vaccination centre demanding vaccination? I mean, that's where the correlation has not been shown to be useful.
“Effectively to me, this looks like a way of making money.”
On another matter, Taylor said there were also concerns being raised over unvalidated methodologies of using Rapid Antigen Tests.
“We're seeing some people saying that you can get away with swabbing your throat, and your mouth and all sorts of other places.
“Unfortunately, these rapid antigen tests have not actually been validated or verified for this, so then it becomes a problem.
“We don't in a laboratory, for example, look for a positive, we don't go ‘Oh my God, that should be positive, let's make it positive’ - that almost appears to be what's happening here.”
He said there was “an opportunity coming up” to clear up these “contraindications”.
