Covid-19 RT-PCR and Antibody Tests Now Available
Covid-19 Testing For Companies
It is my pleasure to introduce African Biosciences Limited (ABL) to your organization.
We are an innovative bioscience research, clinical molecular diagnostics, and DNA testing company in Nigeria. Before the pandemic, very few healthcare facilities, including medical testing labs, hospitals and clinics offered any kind of molecular diagnostics due to many infrastructural, technical and logistical challenges. Now there are some laboratories across Nigeria that offer molecular diagnostics testing for Covid-19, but their capacity to serve the market is hampered by lack of skilled technical personnel and reagents, and strictly narrow criteria of who can get tested.
ABL is offering Covid-19 testing specifically for companies and organizations to secure the health of their workers, and for individuals concerned about their own exposure. The platform is a seamless workflow to handle sample collection, sample preparation, rapid antibody testing, real time R-PCR testing and results delivery. We have the capacity to perform 800 tests a day.
We advise your organization to test its staff for corona virus (SARS-COV2) to determine their clinical status. There is a link below, click on it, complete the form, including the projected number of workers to test so we can forward the contract with details of sample collection protocols, testing, turn around time, results delivery, cost and payment terms.
We look forward to hearing from you so that we can help determine the status of and monitor the health of your staff.
Prof Ikhide G. Imumorin
President and CEO
Rapid Antibody Testing
Antibodies are specific proteins made in response to infections and the antibodies to SARS-Cov2 can be detected using rapid antibody test. Antibodies show that people have had an immune response to the infection and can also indicate previous infections with few or no symptoms. It typically takes 1 to 3 weeks after someone becomes infected with SARS-COV2 for the body antibodies. Depending on when someone was infected and the timing of the test, the test may not find antibodies in someone with an active infection
Real Time
RT-PCR Testing
Real-time revers transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test can be done on respiratory samples to detect the presence of virus itself indicating active on-going infection, even without symptoms and from day 1, not just look for antibodies.
ABL Workflow for Covid-19 Testing
Frequently Asked Questions
ABL is an innovative bio-science research, clinical molecular diagnostics, and DNA testing company in Nigeria.
We are offering Covid-19 testing specifically for companies and organizations to secure the health of their workers, and for individuals concerned about their own exposure. The platform is a seamless workflow to handle sample collection, sample preparation, rapid antibody testing, real time R-PCR testing and results delivery. So you can be sure you are getting expert diagnostics service.
Our laboratory process and return results within 2-3 working days from receiving the test. ABL will inform you of your results via the email provided as soon as we receive them, or any delays.
The PCR test detects whether you have the virus on board. This is typically from the day of exposure till the day the virus has been shed from your system (usually up to 14 days but can be shorter or longer in some cases). It should be undertaken when someone suspects they have Covid-19, or if they believe they have been recently exposed to it. The test can detect Covid-19 even if the individual is asymptomatic.
The antibody test detects a person’s IgG antibody response to Covid-19: if a person tests positive for the antibody, this means they have likely had Covid-19. In the early days of an infection when the body’s immune response is still building, the IgG antibody may not be detected. Therefore this antibody test is recommended for use only after approximately 14 days from the onset of symptoms or a positive PCR test.
ABL offers two tests for Covid-19: a Real Time PCR RNA test and the Rapid antibody test. Broadly speaking, the difference between the two tests can be understood as: ‘Do I have it?’ (PCR) and ‘Have I shown a detectable IgG antibody response?’ (Antibody). ABL’s PCR test can identify Covid-19 in those who suspect they currently have the virus, from the earliest pre-symptomatic stages of the infection. ABL’s Covid-19 antibody test can identify those who have shown an immune response to the virus, once they have recovered from suspected symptoms.
The performance of these tests is described by their “sensitivity,” or their ability to identify those with infection with or antibodies to Covid-19 (true positive rate), and their “specificity,” or their ability to identify those without infection with or antibodies to Covid-19 (true negative rate).
The PCR test diagnoses infection with Covid-19 by identifying the presence of the RNA virus using reverse-transcriptase PCR. The assays used at our partner laboratory show a minimum sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 100%, with no cross-reactivity with other viruses.
The antibody test currently used by our lab is sourced from the global diagnostics company Abbott. Abbott’s validation results of its Covid-19 IgG antibody test reports a sensitivity 100% from 14 days or more after the onset of symptoms, and a specificity of 99.6%. Independent research conducted by University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle found that Abbott’s antibody test had 100% sensitivity 17 days or more after the onset of symptoms, and 99.9% specificity.
If our PCR test is positive for Covid-19 and you recover, or if our antibody test is positive for IgG antibodies, the test results each indicate that you have been exposed to the virus and developed antibodies against it. There is still a great deal about Covid-19 immunity that we do not yet fully understand. For example, we do not yet know that just because someone has developed antibodies, that they are fully protected from reinfection, or how long any immunity lasts. If your IgG test is positive it means you have had Covid-19 exposure sufficiently to make an antibody response to the virus. There is currently no scientific evidence confirming if the presence of antibodies correlates to immunity or how long the antibodies will last for.
If your IgG test is negative, it means you have not been exposed sufficiently to make an antibody response or there has not been sufficient time for the body to make an antibody response. There is also a possibility that your body made an antibody response which has not been sustained and is therefore not detectable when it was tested for. Some patients with other underlying health conditions specifically related to their immune system may also not be able to mount a detectable or sustainable immune response and therefore may test negative. Please note that some people may not develop IgG antibodies even after proven infection with Covid-19 and will therefore test negative.