Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42497295›Full record

ArticlePLOS global public health2026

SARS-CoV-2 and neutralizing antibody dynamics at a remote village in Kenya before widespread COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Esther Omuseni, Josphat Nyataya, Peter Sifuna, George Awinda, Allan Lemtudo, Clement Masakhwe, Beth Mutai, Geoffrey Maina, Simon Kariuki, John Waitumbi

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLOS global public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Esther OmuseniKenya Medical Research Institute/Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Basic Science Laboratory, Kisumu, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8528-7148
Josphat NyatayaKenya Medical Research Institute/Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Basic Science Laboratory, Kisumu, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1333-327X
Peter SifunaKenya Medical Research Institute/Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Basic Science Laboratory, Kisumu, Kenya.
George AwindaKenya Medical Research Institute/Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Basic Science Laboratory, Kisumu, Kenya.
Allan LemtudoKenya Medical Research Institute/Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Basic Science Laboratory, Kisumu, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8204-7560
Clement MasakhweKenya Medical Research Institute/Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Basic Science Laboratory, Kisumu, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3379-7346
Beth MutaiKenya Medical Research Institute/Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Basic Science Laboratory, Kisumu, Kenya.
Geoffrey MainaKenya Medical Research Institute, Center Biotechnology Research and Development, Nairobi, Kenya.
Simon KariukiKenya Medical Research Institute, Center for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya.
John WaitumbiKenya Medical Research Institute/Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Basic Science Laboratory, Kisumu, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2540-4397

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Given limited data on SARS‑CoV‑2 transmission and immunity in rural, low‑vaccine‑coverage settings, we evaluated infection rates and population‑level neutralizing antibody increase in a rural community in western Kenya. The study was conducted at the KEMRI/WRAIR-Africa Health Demographic Surveillance System that has a population of 160,000. Clusters of households that had representative demographics were identified and individuals invited to participate in six cross-sectional surveys that targeted 234 participants at each survey, two months apart, conducted between April 2021 and March 2022, during which time, the Alpha, Delta and Omicron waves dominated. At each survey, participants provided naso-pharyngeal samples for SARS-CoV-2 detection and serum for measuring neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) using surrogate virus neutralizing test which assessed inhibition of RBD-ACE2 binding. 69% (917/1329) of the participants were females. By RT-qPCR, SARS-CoV-2 increased from 3% (7/224) at survey one (April 2021) to 24% (55/229) by survey two (June 2021), and thereafter decreased to zero, only to rise to 10% (23/234) during the January 2022 Omicron wave. NAbs increased from 18% (40/224) at survey one to 86% (202/234) by end of the study. The quantity of NAbs rose from geometric mean of 0.42 U/mL at survey one to 9.4 U/mL by survey six. Females had higher NAbs (3.73U/mL, 95% CI), compared to 1.98 U/mL, 95% CI (p = 0.0146) for males. NAbs quantities increased with age: 2.1 U/mL for <9 years, 2.6 U/mL for 10 - 19 years, 3.4 U/mL for 20 - 39 years, 3.8 U/mL for 40 - 59 years and 4.9 U/mL for >60 years. The increase in population-level NAbs is consistent with widespread exposure to the virus during the study period. As caveat, causality of NAbs for the decline in SARS‑CoV‑2 infections cannot be inferred with confidence, because other factors such as the use of non‑pharmaceutical interventions and other individual-level variables were not measured.

Identifiers

PMID42497295
PMCPMC13399503

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.