Background

Antibody testing has recently emerged as an option to assist with determining exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Elucidation of the kinetics and duration of the humoral response is important for clinical management and interpreting results from serological surveys.

Objectives

Here we evaluated the clinical performance of Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG assays, as well as the longitudinal dynamics of the antibody response in symptomatic COVID-19 patients.

Study design and results

The diagnostic specificity was 100 % for IgM and 99.67 % for IgG using 300 pre-COVID-19 serum specimens. Using 1349 sequential serum samples collected up to 168 days post symptom onset from 427 PCR-confirmed individuals, clinical test sensitivity of the SARS-CoV-2 IgM assay was 24.6 % at ≤7 days, 75.3 % at 8−14 days, 95.0 % at 15−21 days, and 96.0 % at 4−5 weeks (peak test sensitivity). The median duration of time for IgM seroconversion was 10 days. IgM levels declined steadily 4−5 weeks after symptom onset, and the positive rate dropped to 30.8 % at >3 months. The diagnostic sensitivity for the SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay post symptom onset was 23.2 % at ≤7 days, 69.5 % at 8−14 days, 93.6 % at 15−21 days, and 99.6 % at 4−5 weeks (peak test sensitivity). The median duration of time for IgG seroconversion was 11.5 days. During the convalescent phase of the infection, a decline in the IgG level was observed in patients who were followed for >100 days. Despite that decline, 92.3 % of the patient cohort remained IgG positive 3–6 months following symptom onset.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the Abbott IgM assay against SARS-CoV-2 is detected slightly earlier compared to IgG, with both tests exhibiting excellent overall sensitivity and specificity. In symptomatic patients who test negative by PCR for a SARS-CoV-2 infection, assessing IgM and IgG antibodies can aid in supporting a diagnosis of COVID-19.