Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a population living in Bomassa village, Republic of Congo
Open accessAbstract
Objectives: With limited data available from Central Africa, the aim of our study was to evaluate the anti-SARS-CoV-2 Ab prevalence in indigenous residents of Bomassa, a village located in the Sangha region in the Republic of Congo. Methods: Plasma and oropharyngeal swab samples were collected from 304 healthy adult individuals, randomly recruited in May 2021 before vaccine introduction in the area. In addition, 82 plasma samples from the same area in 2019 were included as controls for the investigation of cross-reactivity against other coronaviruses. The SARS-CoV-2 virus was detected by qRT-PCR and sequenced using next-generation sequencing. ELISA was used for detecting IgG, IgM, and neutralizing Ab against SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Results: Around 4.9% (15/304) of the participants were SARS-CoV-2 positive, with B.1.631 being the only variant identified. Of 109 individuals harboring anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and/or IgM Ab, 45.9% (50/109) had anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing Ab. Of the control samples collected before the pandemic, 3.7% (3/82) were positive for IgG, but negative for neutralizing Ab. Conclusions: Seroprevalence against SARS-CoV-2 occurred in 25% of the indigenous population sample, with almost 50% of these seropositive participants possessing neutralizing antibodies. These findings suggest that the spread of SARS-CoV-2 has been underestimated in the Republic of Congo.
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Several serosurveys suggest that Africa experienced large waves of infection but that most cases went unreported, in part because they did not lead to severe disease.
“Several serosurveys suggest that Africa experienced large waves of infection but that most cases went unreported, in part because they did not lead to severe disease.”
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- Authors
- Lobaloba Ingoba, L., Djontu, J. C., Mfoutou Mapanguy, C. C., Mouzinga, F., Diafouka Kietela, S., Vouvoungui, C., Kuisma, E., Nguimbi, E., & Ntoumi, F.
- Affiliations
- Fondation Congolaise Pour La Recherche Médicale (CG)
- Wildlife Conservation Society (US)
- Marien Ngouabi University (CG)
- Corresponding author
- Ntoumi, Francine
- ORCID
- Venue
- IJID Regions
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-03
- Volume
- 2
- Pages
- 130-136
- ISSN
- 2772-7076 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8760703
- OpenAlex
- W4206820781
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5
- FWCI
- 1.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- IJID Regions (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- EDCTP (RIA2016E-1609, RIA2020EF-2947)
- Fondation Mérieux
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing
- Keywords
- SARS-CoV-2, seroprevalence, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, neutralizing antibodies, IgG, IgM, indigenous peoples, Republic of the Congo, cross-reactivity
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