The serological test has been offered to patients with or without a prescription since Monday. In Cahors, demand is increasing crescendo. We have passed the test and we explain the procedures, the price and the results.
Have you had any symptoms but don’t know if it was Covid-19? Or did you have no symptoms but still want to know if you caught it? Thanks to serological tests carried out in private laboratories since Monday, you can have the answer. We too wanted to take the test. We started by going to the BIO 3 laboratory in Cahors without an appointment. To the medical secretary, I explained that I had no symptoms and did not have a prescription. No problem: she handed me a form to fill out and present at the meeting. Easy as pie.
Read also :
Concerned public, efficiency, reimbursement … six infos to know about serological tests
Monday morning, here I am again in the laboratory for the blood test. I have taken care to include my medical history on the document. The atmosphere is already clearly different: the phone keeps ringing, a dozen patients are waiting. “We get a little more people than usual, that’s true,” admits the medical secretary. The laboratory performs between 5 and 10 serological tests per day against fifteen PCR tests. The difference is that the serological test is not yet reimbursed by Health Insurance.
Up to € 50 per test
I pay € 22.85 because the samples are analyzed on site. I would have paid € 45 if the laboratory transferred the blood tubes to Paris. Each laboratory sets its own price, some have opted for € 50.
Read also :
Coronavirus: even weakly ill patients could be immunized
On the phone, a patient makes an appointment for a serological test. He is convinced he had Covid-19: he has had all of the symptoms and wants to be clear. But for now it’s my turn. In the collection room, the examination table has been disinfected, the nurse wraps the elastic around my arm, soaks the skin with a cotton swab and stings the vein. The operation lasts only 5 to 10 seconds, the time to fill two small tubes. They are analyzed by biologists on the spot. “We’re looking for gammaglobulins, a type of antibody that confirms the presence of the virus,” said biologist Laurent Corallo. According to him, the test is almost 100% effective. But does he have a real interest? “Yes, especially when the patient is tested during the second week of infection because the production of antibodies is detectable from this moment on in symptomatic patients who are still potentially contagious to those around them,” said the biologist. The test remains reliable for several weeks or even several months because the antibodies remain in the blood.
However, the serological test does not guarantee security: it is impossible to say that the antibodies produced immunize the virus in the long term. “It is not yet known whether the antibodies are truly protective and if they are long lasting,” notes the specialist. In this laboratory, the teams carry out a test approved by the National Reference Center. The next morning, the results fall into my mailbox: “no antibody” therefore negative.
–
