ArticleBMC infectious diseases2026
Pre-COVID-19 ex vivo cross-reactive IFN-γ cellular response to SARS-CoV-2 spike overlapping peptides is more prevalent among Kenyan compared to Swedish adults.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Reduced COVID-19 severity in Africa: a systematic review of host genetic and immunological responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Pooled it
- Rethinking the evidence on COVID-19 in Africa.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGlobal WHO data indicate that Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, such as Kenya, experienced reduced coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severe-morbidity and mortality burdens relative to their more affluent counterparts in Europe, Asia, and North America.
methodsWe analysed peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) samples collected from Kenya and Sweden before and during COVID-19. Pre-COVID-19 samples were available for 80 adults and 10 infants from Kenya, and 20 adults from Sweden. COVID-19 samples were available for 39 Kenyan adults. The samples were analysed for ex vivo IFN-γ secretion using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent (ELISpot) assay following in vitro stimulations with overlapping SARS-CoV-2 spike-protein peptides. T-cells expressing IFN-γ, IL-2, TNF-α, CD154, and CD107a were assessed following similar stimulations, using intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) and multiparameter flow cytometry.
results55.7% of the Kenyan pre-COVID-19 adult samples were classified as responders by ELISPOT responses to spike-protein peptides, compared with 28% of Swedish pre-COVID-19 adult sample (p = 0.04). The frequencies for SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific TNF-α CD4+, TNF-α CD8 + and IFN-γ CD8 + T-cell responses, tended to be higher in the Kenyan adults although these differences did not reach statistical significance.
conclusionPre-COVID-19 T-cell responses could contribute to lower morbidity and mortality associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections in SSA relative to Europe, Asia, and North America.
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