Anti SARS CoV 2 (COVID-19) IgM antibodies assay
SARS-CoV-2 virus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2) is an enveloped single-stranded RNA virus and is a member of the coronavirus family Coronaviridae. Coronaviruses consist of the following structural proteins: spike protein (S), envelope protein (E), membrane protein (M), and nucleocapsid protein (N), and several non-structural proteins.
The immune system reacts to SARS-CoV-2 by producing specific antibodies. Studies have shown that both classes of immunoglobulins M (IgM) and G (IgG) were detected already on the 5th day after the appearance of the first symptoms. On average, IgM class antibodies were detected on day 10-13, and IgG on day 12-14, while maximum antibody levels were recorded at week 2-3 for IgM, week 3-6 for IgG, and week 2 for total antibodies. IgM disappeared around week 6-7, at which time a high concentration of IgG was observed. IgM is usually the main class of antibodies secreted into the blood during the early stages of the primary immune response, the levels and chronological order of occurrence of IgM and IgG antibodies seem to vary greatly for SARS-CoV-2.