World Serum Bank


A novel idea in 2016 was the serious scientific proposal of a World Serum Bank, or World Serology Bank, which might help scientists to determine the characteristics of susceptibility to viruses amongst individuals in a population.

Concept

A 2016 research paper by Metcalf et al., amongst whom were Neil Ferguson and Jeremy Farrar, stated that serological surveys are often used by epidemiologists to determine the prevalence of a disease in a population. Such surveys are sometimes performed by random, anonymous sampling from samples taken for other medical tests or to assess the prevalence of antibodies of a specific organism or protective titre of antibodies in a population. Serological surveys are usually used to quantify the proportion of people or animals in a population positive for a specific antibody or the titre or concentrations of an antibody. These surveys are potentially the most direct and informative technique available to infer the dynamics of a population's susceptibility and level of immunity. The authors proposed a World Serology Bank and foresaw "associated major methodological developments in serological testing, study design, and quantitative analysis, which could drive a step change in our understanding and optimum control of infectious diseases."
In a helpful reply entitled "Opportunities and challenges of a World Serum Bank", de Lusignan and Correa observed that the
In another helpful reply on the World Serum Bank, the Australian researcher Karen Coates declared that: