HEALTH MINUTE: Antibody test reliability

Antibody tests are supposed to determine a past infection of COVID-19.

But in new guidance, the CDC says those tests aren't always reliable.

Mandy Gaither reports.

Centers for disease control and prevention says -- those tests aren't always reliable.

Mandy gaither has more details in today's health minute.

:00 :12 antibody tests to determine if a person has had a past infection of covid-19 -- may be wrong up to half of the time -- the c-d-c now says.

Dr. sanjay gupta/"i don't think we should be making any decisions using those antibody tests."

Dr. sanjay gupta says a lot of the antibody tests intially put out -- weren't good -- the f-d-a has since put out a policy requiring antibody test makers to submit emergency authorization requests -- along with proof the tests work -- dr. sanjay gupta/"false positives is the worst kind of results b/c you think if i've got the antibodies i'm good to go -- you're not and so the tests aren't good enough right now."

The c-d-c says health officials or health care providers using antibody tests need to use the most accurate tests they can find and might need to test people twice dr. sanjay gupta/"also we still don't know the exact meaning of what the antibodies are going to provide in terms of how long people would be protected as a result of these antibodies how strong these antibodies will be -- it's likely