Immune imprinting and antibody profiles to SARS-CoV-2 in urban and rural Ghana
Infections with SARS-CoV-2 and the development of immunity to the virus and its antigenic variants have been unevenly documented globally, with African populations particularly understudied. As SARS-CoV-2 transitions toward being an endemic pathogen, a more nuanced understanding of immune protection in diverse populations is required. In 2023, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,000 Ghanaian residents to assess SARS-CoV-2 prevalence and antibody correlates of immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants. We found an active SARS-CoV-2 infection rate of 1.3% and a 57% vaccination rate. We observed anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike plasma antibody sero-positivity of 98.7%, with urban compared to rural residents having higher anti-SARS-CoV-2 plasma and saliva antibody concentrations. Vaccinated and urban individuals exhibited significantly greater Spike-pseudotyped virus neutralization than nonvaccinated and rural individuals. Notably, plasma antibodies preferentially bound Wuhan-Hu-1 over Omicron Spike variants. Our findings indicate significant prior and ongoing SARS-CoV-2 transmission as well as immunological imprinting by Wuhan-Hu-1-like SARS-CoV-2 in Ghana.
Authors
- Elizabeth Obeng-Aboagye
- Irene Owusu Donkor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8523-955X)
- Christopher Dorcoo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1336-5330)
- Dickson Osabutey
- Elvis Suatey Lomotey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3577-3375)
- Dorothy Yeboah‐Manu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1663-6287)
- Katharina Röltgen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1582-1720)
- Scott D. Boyd (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0963-044X)
- Daniel Adjei Odumang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7261-2063)
- George B. Sigal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7149-6400)
- Edward Dumashie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7665-7891)
- Martin Montiel-Ruiz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6200-9578)
- Isaac Quaye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6334-050X)
- Joseph Quartey
- Angelica Daakyire
- Florence B Amakye
- Bernard A Logonia
- Salomé Lochmann
- Joseph A Hayford
Institutions
- University of Ghana (GH)
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (CH)
- University of Basel (CH)
- Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (GH)
- Meso Scale Discovery (United States) (US)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- iScience
- Published
- 2025-04-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112511
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Blood groups and transfusion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.54
Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung