美国有线新闻 CNN 什么是新冠病毒抗体检测?

More than 1.8 million people worldwide have contracted COVID-19. Most people who get the disease will recover. So the next question for them is are they now immune to coronavirus and for how long?

REPORTER: According to the Coronavirus Task Force, more than 2 million tests have now been performed in the United States. And yet there are still people who need to be tested, such as healthcare workers who can't get one. It's part of the reason there is now so much interest in a different kind of test — an antibody test. Dr. Fauci told CNN on Friday, it's coming soon.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: I'm certain that that's going to happen that within a period of a week or so we're going to have a rather large number of tests that are available.

REPORTER: But what exactly are antibodies? They are proteins in the immune system that develop days after someone has been infected. And it's the antibodies that make someone immune to becoming re-infected. It means two things — you were previously¹ infected and you are now likely to be protected, at least for a while.

DR. STEPHEN HAHN: We think it will be a tool that will help us get people back to work. It will be additional information because as you know, if you have an antibody that means you were exposed and have recovered from it. That with the information about diagnosis² should help.

REPORTER: That's why public health agencies around the world want these antibody tests because it could help some people get back to their daily lives. You remember the swab test we're all familiar with — well that tests for the virus itself, specifically its genetic³ material. Problems are first of all at some point after you recover, that test will be negative. And secondly⁴, a lot of people have had trouble getting that diagnostic test in the first place.

The antibody test is more definitive⁵. There are only a few reasons you would have antibodies in your blood. You got someone else's antibodies by an injection of their blood; you got a vaccine⁶ which teaches your body to make antibodies; or you were infected. The antibody test requires a sample of your blood and this strip which has proteins from the virus on it. If your blood reacts to that strip, it means you have antibodies in your blood.

DR. DEBORAH BIRX: And I think really being able to tell them, the peace of mind that would come from knowing you already were infected, you have the antibody, you're safe from re-infection, 99.9% of the time. And so this, I think would be very reassuring⁷ to our frontline healthcare workers.

REPORTER: Another benefit of antibody testing —surveillance. In places like Miami-Dade County, Florida, Santa Clara County, California and Telluride, Colorado, they have already starting using antibody tests to get a better sense of how many people, many of whom will be surprised to learn have already been exposed to the virus.

1 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

2 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

3 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

4 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

5 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

6 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

7 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。