COVID-19 Update with Dr. Whitworth | Jan. 12, 2022

Current testing reveals whether or not a patient has SARS-CoV-2 infection. It is possible to take that same nasal swab and send it to a lab for genetic testing which can reveal whether or not it is delta, omicron, or other. This is expensive and takes a couple of days at best and is not routinely used in any practices.

The CDC has a huge surveillance system with the states where thousands of samples are put through genetic testing on a daily basis to let the epidemiologists and the rest of us know how much of what is seen in a state is delta, omicron, etc.

This data is public information on the CDC website and in the USA almost every sample genetically tested formally is omicron.

I am hopeful that someday there will be an antibody level that is shown to be protective. If that happens and we can each get a test to see if we are at that level, then we will know we are protected. I don’t expect that to happen because we are all genetically different and have very different health problems. A level protective for one person may not be protective for another who might be older or on chemotherapy. Right now a titer can be drawn and if it is positive it can let you know that you have had either SARS-CoV-2 virus infection or the COVID vaccine—depending on the test ordered. But if the test is negative, that isn’t proof that you didn’t have infection or vaccine, it just means that there aren’t any antibodies floating around.

Can we at Cook tell the difference in Delta, Omicron, and others? Or is a positive test just assumed to be the variant that is being talked about at that time?
Do you every think titters will be used to check immunity to Covid?

Thank you so much Dr. Whitworth for leading us through the pandemic with excellent information! We appreciate you so much.