Marc Souris, Léon Tshilolo, Destin Mbongi, Baltazar Phoba, Marie-Anasthasie Tshilolo, René Mbungu, Daniel Parzy, Line Lobaloba Ingoba, Francine Ntoumi, Rachel Kamgaing, Martin Samuel Sosso, Nadine Fainguem, Tandakha Ndiaye Dieye, Moussa Ndour, Massamba Sylla, Pierre Morand and Jean-Paul Gonzalez
More than a year after the emergence of COVID-19, significant regional differences in terms of morbidity persist, showing in particular lower incidence rates in some regions of Africa or Asia. The work reported here aims to test for a pre-pandemic natural immunity among populations in central and western Africa and a suspected SARS-CoV-2 original antigenic sin. To identify such pre-existing immunity, sera samples collected before the emergence of COVID-19 were tested to detect the presence of IgG antibodies reacting against SARS-CoV-2 proteins of major significance. Sera samples from blood donors of France also collected before the pandemic were used as control. The results showed a statistically highly significant difference for antibodies prevalence between the samples collected in Africa and the control samples. Our results suggest that in the tested African sub-regions the populations have been potentially pre-exposed before the COVID-19 pandemic to the antigens of a SARS-CoV-2-like virus.
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Virology: Current Research received 187 citations as per Google Scholar report
