Serologic tests are blood tests that look for antibodies in your blood. They can involve a number of laboratory techniques. Different types of serologic tests are used to diagnose various disease conditions.
Serologic tests have one thing in common. They all focus on proteins made by your immune system. This vital body system helps keep you healthy by destroying foreign invaders that can make you ill. The process for having the test is the same regardless of which technique the laboratory uses during serologic testing.
It’s helpful to know a little about the immune system and why we get sick to understand serologic tests and why they’re useful.
Antigens are substances that provoke a response from the immune system. They’re usually too small to see with the naked eye. They can enter the human body through the mouth, through broken skin, or through the nasal passages. Antigens that commonly affect people include the following:
• bacteria
• fungi
• viruses
• parasites
