Abstract
COVID-19 in Africa: preexisting immunity and HIV.
Highlights
The true impact of SARS-CoV-2 in Africa, the continent that has most people with HIV (PWH), is still unclear
Preexposure and cross-reactivity due to circulating human coronaviruses (HCoVs) have been hypothesized to modify SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes by decreasing disease severity. The latter could partially explain the age distribution of COVID-19 disease severity, as HCoV infection rates are higher in children than in adults and correlates with relative protection from COVID-19 disease [13]
Cross-reactivity caused by seasonal coronaviruses may result in incorrect or false-positive results when immunoassays are used for diagnostics or sero-surveillence [14,15]
Summary
The true impact of SARS-CoV-2 in Africa, the continent that has most people with HIV (PWH), is still unclear. Preexisting IgG crossreactivity to SARS-CoV-2 S and N proteins in individuals uninfected and unexposed to the SARSCoV-2 has been widely reported [9,11,12]. Preexposure and cross-reactivity due to circulating HCoVs have been hypothesized to modify SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes by decreasing disease severity.
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