Antibody Serology Tests
Reviewed
Antibody serology tests look for specific antibodies in your blood. Antibodies are proteins your immune system makes to fight disease-causing germs. These tests are generally used to see if you've had a specific infection, check your vaccination status, or monitor certain treatments. Results may be given as titers, positive, or negative. The test cannot show if antibodies are from a current or past infection or from a vaccination, nor can it show if you have full protection from a disease.
Preparation and collection
You don't need any special preparations.
Understanding this test
Use the reference interval and units printed by the laboratory that performed the test. A result outside that interval is not a diagnosis by itself, and a result inside it does not rule out every condition. Your symptoms, history, medicines, timing, and related tests can change what the result means.
- Cannot show if the antibodies are from a current or past infection or from a vaccination.
- Cannot show if you have full protection from a disease or how long protection lasts.
- These tests are not used to diagnose diseases such as measles, mumps, chickenpox, shingles, hepatitis, or mononucleosis.
- There is very little risk to having a blood test; slight pain or bruising at the spot where the needle was put in may occur, but most symptoms go away quickly.
What to do next
Talk to your provider about what your specific results mean for your health.