{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T13:18:45Z","timestamp":1783948725384,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,1]],"date-time":"2024-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1709251200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001713","name":"European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RIA2020EF- 2926"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RIA2020EF- 2926"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001713","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"The Research Council of Norway","award":["grants 312768 and 223269"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["grants 312768 and 223269"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Data on SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and infancy has accumulated throughout the course of the pandemic, though evidence regarding asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and adverse birth outcomes are scarce. Limited information is available from countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The pregnant woman and infant COVID in Africa study (PeriCOVID Africa) is a South-South-North partnership involving hospitals and health centres in five countries: Malawi, Uganda, Mozambique, The Gambia, and Kenya. The study leveraged data from three ongoing prospective cohort studies: Preparing for Group B Streptococcal Vaccines (GBS PREPARE), SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 in women and their infants in Kampala and Mukono (COMAC) and Pregnancy Care Integrating Translational Science Everywhere (PRECISE). In this paper we describe the seroepidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women enrolled in sites in Uganda and Malawi, and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on pregnancy and infant outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Outcome<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in maternal blood, reported as the proportion of seropositive women by study site and wave of COVID-19 within each country.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The PeriCOVID study was a prospective mother-infant cohort study that recruited pregnant women at any gestation antenatally or on the day of delivery. Maternal and cord blood samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using Wantai and Euroimmune ELISA. In periCOVID Uganda and Malawi nose and throat swabs for SARS-Cov-2 RT-PCR were obtained.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>In total, 1379 women were enrolled, giving birth to 1387 infants. Overall, 63% of pregnant women had a SARS-CoV-2 positive serology. Over subsequent waves (delta and omicron), in the absence of vaccination, seropositivity rose from 20% to over 80%. The placental transfer GMR was 1.7, indicating active placental transfer of anti-spike IgG. There was no association between SARS-CoV-2 antibody positivity and adverse pregnancy or infancy outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0290913","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,1]],"date-time":"2024-03-01T18:43:49Z","timestamp":1709318629000},"page":"e0290913","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Seroepidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in a cohort of pregnant women and their infants in Uganda and Malawi"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9703-655X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Lauren","family":"Hookham","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5413-7641","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Liberty","family":"Cantrell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5156-037X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Stephen","family":"Cose","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bridget","family":"Freyne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luis","family":"Gadama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Esther","family":"Imede","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kondwani","family":"Kawaza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samantha","family":"Lissauer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Phillipa","family":"Musoke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Victoria","family":"Nankabirwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Musa","family":"Sekikubo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Halvor","family":"Sommerfelt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Merryn","family":"Voysey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5104-085X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kirsty","family":"Le Doare","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"name":"on behalf of The periCOVID Consortium","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,1]]},"reference":[{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0290913.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"999","DOI":"10.1038\/s41591-020-0961-x","article-title":"COVID-19 in Africa: the spread and response","volume":"26","author":"M Massinga Loemb\u00e9","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature Medicine"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0290913.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2064","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2708.204954","article-title":"Intense and Mild First Epidemic Wave of Coronavirus Disease, The Gambia","volume":"27","author":"B Abatan","year":"2021","journal-title":"Emerging infectious diseases"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0290913.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e631","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(20)30123-6","article-title":"COVID-19 pandemic in west Africa","volume":"8","author":"M Martinez-Alvarez","year":"2020","journal-title":"The lancet global health"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0290913.ref004","first-page":"433","article-title":"The conundrum of low COVID-19 mortality burden in sub-Saharan Africa: myth or reality? 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