{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T18:05:35Z","timestamp":1779991535343,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779926400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100021727","name":"Berlin University Alliance","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100021727","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"German Federal Foreign Office","award":["Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention (G-WAC) scholarship"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention (G-WAC) scholarship"]}]}],"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>Ghana exhibits geographic variation across northern and southern regions alongside differences between urban and rural communities, which may influence SARS-CoV-2 exposure and immune response. This study aimed to assess the differences in seroprevalence, and seroconversion status after exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in selected urban and rural Ghanaian communities.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A longitudinal study design was employed. Serum samples (n\u2009=\u2009987) were collected during a baseline survey (August 2023\u2013February 2024) with longitudinal follow-up (n\u2009=\u2009212) sampling after one year (August 2024-February 2025) among consenting community participants aged \u226510 years selected through household-based sampling in urban and rural settings. Socio-demographic data, clinical symptoms, and vaccination status were collected using structured questionnaires. Serum samples were inactivated and tested with semi-quantitative Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG ELISA assays targeting spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins. Presence of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies in serum was determined by a surrogate virus neutralization assay.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Of 987 participants aged 10\u201388 years (67.3% female), SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was comparable between urban (47.4%) and rural (47.7%) areas. Among the 212 participants followed longitudinally, 50.9% (108 participants) had both infection or vaccine-induced anti-spike and infection-induced anti-nucleocapsid antibodies after one year, indicating sustained immune responses from prior exposure or vaccination. There was a significant increase in paired spike and nucleocapsid antibody responses between baseline and follow-up (McNemar\u2019s test, \u03c7\u00b2(1) = 104.00, p\u2009&lt;\u20090.0001), reflecting ongoing immune boosting despite evidence of antibody waning. Neutralizing antibodies, were detected in 147\/148 (99.3%) individuals at timepoint-1 and in all 12 (100%) selected individuals for follow-up at timepoint-2, demonstrating robust functional immunity.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study demonstrates widespread serological evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 exposure and vaccine-induced immunity in both urban and rural Ghana. Functional neutralising antibodies were detected in a longitudinal subset, suggesting persistence of antibody-mediated protection in some individuals. Larger longitudinal studies with repeated functional immune assessments are needed to better define durable protection in West African settings.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0348281","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T17:30:12Z","timestamp":1779989412000},"page":"e0348281","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Serological responses to SARS-CoV-2 in urban and rural Ghana: Antibody waning and implications for long-term population immunity"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0884-9645","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"George","family":"Agyei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Philip","family":"El-Duah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rexford Mawunyo","family":"Dumevi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4429-1738","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Therese","family":"Muzeniek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sherihane","family":"Aryeetey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3499-3659","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Brice Armel Nembot","family":"Fogang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jonathan M.","family":"Gmanyami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Augustina Angelina","family":"Sylverken","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yaw","family":"Adu-Sarkodie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Richard Odame","family":"Phillips","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5066-150X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Michael","family":"Owusu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christian","family":"Drosten","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]]},"reference":[{"issue":"7798","key":"pone.0348281.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"265","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2008-3","article-title":"A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China","volume":"579","author":"F Wu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"pone.0348281.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"63","DOI":"10.2147\/ITT.S280706","article-title":"Cellular and Humoral Immune Responses in Covid-19 and Immunotherapeutic Approaches","volume":"10","author":"A Hasan","year":"2021","journal-title":"Immunotargets Ther"},{"key":"pone.0348281.ref003","unstructured":"WHO. 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