There are lots of ways to check immune status. For a really good look at your overall immune status, the Immune Status test is best, I think. It measures:

You can read all about it here, and see a sample report here.

I can also do quite specific immune/infections checks like Covid, fibromyalgia, MCAS, chlamydia, strep, CIRS etc via Colabs. Just ask. Do bear in mind Colab shipping charges (to get the kit to you and have samples collected from you by courier and shipped abroad) can be quite high as they use Medical Express often to make sure the sample you send is as fresh and viable as possible, which is important with their complex type tests. I'll advise you of shipping costs before I place an order just to check if I think it is high.

Alternatives

I would say one of the most obvious places to start looking at your immune system is with a full blood chemistry test. Your GP can do that or do the Genova Functional Blood Chemistry Profile (order on the shop here, or direct using my code A42RS) or look at the Women's and Men's Health tests, which cover that too. If you want a fancy-pants report with really good summaries and the priorities picked out for you, also look at the FDX Ultra. They will show you white blood cell counts and more; you’ll get a good look at what your lymphocytes, neutrophils and other white blood cell types are up to. Check too for anaemias, especially if you are finding it difficult to recover after an illness or infection.

This is a gross generalisation of the white blood cell types, but I’ve found it helpful in practice so I share it in case it helps:

• Neutrophils tend to go up if a bacterial infection is present and down with a viral infection.
• Lymphocytes go down in most chronic diseases eg. viral, toxicity, fatigue etc.
• Monocytes go up in acute problems.
• Eosinophils go up in the presence of parasites or with allergy of some kind.
• Basophils contain histamine and can be raised by allergy/sensitivity/high blood histamine levels.

Another way to get a good feel for your immune strength is to check levels of the key antibodies: IgG, IgA and IgM via the Viva Total Immunoglobulins Test.

Roughly:

• Immunoglobulin M (IgM) is found mainly in blood and lymph fluid. This is the first antibody the body makes when it fights a new infection so if this is high, you likely have an acute or developing issue.
• Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is found in the linings of the respiratory tract and digestive system as well as in saliva, tears and breast milk.
• Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is the most common antibody. It’s in blood and other body fluids, and protects against bacterial and viral infections. This usually denotes a chronic issue or something that’s been going on for a long time.

You can read much more about this here. Suffice to say, if the levels are low, your immunity could do with a boost.

Also, check your mucosal SIgA levels – this is what protects the mucosal linings of your body, like the lungs, eyes, vagina, gut and skin. Do the simple salivary Secretory IgA test for that. Read my factsheet on SIgA here too. The gut tests will check for stool SIgA specifically.

Nutrient Levels

Levels of Vitamin A, C and D as well as the mineral zinc are crucial to your immune health. It's actually not that easy to check vitamins and minerals! Check the Vitamin and Mineral Tests, but in general, I like the Genova Elemental Analysis Test , which measures the key minerals and toxic metals in the right ways for each mineral (rare!). For vitamins, choose TDL’s Vitamin Profile 2. This is costly because it is a pretty specialised process to check B vits, Vitamin A, active B12 and red cell folate (the best forms). Do not just supplement high doses of Vitamin A or D especially – it is better to see what you need and correct it. Too much is not a good thing of those. Better (and cheaper) would be to take a good general multivitamin and mineral so everything is in balance, but it is worth testing because low levels of any of those could be really harming your chances of recovery. See the Wellbeing protocol here.