Seroconversion
Seroconversion is the medical term for the phase of a vaccination or infection in which specific antibodies against antigens of a foreign body can be detected in the blood serum for the first time. The term seroconversion also includes the change in antibody class in the course of a vaccination or infection from early antibodies ( IgM ) to late antibodies ( IgG ). It is the serological response of the immune system .
After seroconversion, a previously negative detection test for IgG antibodies is positive. Antigens in the foreign body, on the other hand, are usually no longer detectable.
Finding
The occurrence of specific antibodies is detected with ELISA tests, for example in the diagnosis of HIV . Compared to a PCR , the ELISA is relatively inexpensive. It also serves to track the current infection process in the Covid-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 . Systematic, representative antibody tests provide an overview of the level of immunization achieved in the population, as they also record silent seroconversions. A silent seroconversion happens in an infected person who otherwise shows hardly any symptoms.
A measure of the infection rate in the population is the seroconversion rate, the proportion of the population that seroconverts per unit of time and is (probably) immune to renewed infection.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lexicon of Biology, Spectrum , Article Seroconversion
- ^ Pschyrembel Online , accessed April 9, 2020
- ↑ Daniel Stadlbauer, Fatima Amanat, Veronika Chromikova, Kaijun Jiang, Shirin Strohmeier, Guha Asthagiri Arunkumar, Jessica Tan, Disha Bhavsar, Christina Capuano, Ericka Kirkpatrick, Philip Meade, Ruhi Nichalle Brito, Catherine Teo, Meagan McMahon, Viviana Simon, Florian Krammer : SARS ‐ CoV ‐ 2 seroconversion in humans: A detailed protocol for a serological assay, antigen production, and test setup. In: Curr Protoc Microbiol 57, 1, 2020: e100. PDF.
- ↑ Christian Drosten, Podcast No. 29 , April 7, 2020