Scientists from Monash University and Alfred Health develop immunity test for COVID-19

Melbourne scientists are making a test to determine who has immunity to coronavirus, and who remains infectious and is at-risk of developing a severe form of the disease.

Monash University and Alfred Health researchers plan to repurpose technology recently developed to test for a patient's immunity to allergens and influenza. It will be used as a COVID-19 detector.

Researchers would begin receiving cell samples next week from colleagues in Melbourne and three main coronavirus hotspots, including Italy, China and New York.

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The test would have the capacity to look for differences in the blood of patients with a mild disease, compared to those with severe infection, in a bid to predict those who may need early medical intervention.

"It is important that we now move from needing a test that simply tells whether someone is infected – which is the priority now – to needing a test that can determine who is infectious, who is immune, who is going to get a serious case of the disease and who will only develop a mild case of upper airway infection," lead researcher Associate Professor Menno van Zelm, from Monash University's Central Clinical School, said.

"This and other tests like it will provide us with a more nuanced approach to managing the disease."

The test, similar to the recently developed test for influenza, looks at 'memory B lymphocytes' which makes antibodies to invading pathogens such as viruses.

If there is evidence of a large population of cells specific to a pathogen, it is likely that person has been infected in the past and will remain immune to COVID-19.

The test is expected to be ready in the coming months.