Background The clinical manifestations of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can vary widely, ranging from
asymptomatic to severe, and may be influenced by the host genetic background. The aim of the present study was
to determine the frequencies of HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 allele polymorphisms and their associations with
COVID-19.
Methods In this cross-sectional study, 198 subjects were enrolled, including 150 COVID-19 positive cases and 48
subjects who tested negative for COVID-19. Participants were recruited from the emergency, intensive care, and
infectious diseases departments of the Bogodogo Centre University Hospital (CHU-B) or the routine laboratory of
Centre de Recherche Biomoléculaire Pietro Annigoni (CERBA). Genomic DNA was extracted from nasopharyngeal
swabs samples and multiplex PCR-SSP was used to detect the HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 alleles. The study was
approved by CERS (№ 2021-02-033).
Results The positive cases were categorized into 38 asymptomatic (CC+), 60 symptomatic (NC+), and 52 severe
cases (SC+). Females were more frequent in the overall study population (53.0%, 105/198) as well as in the negative
group’s CC- (68.75%, 33/48) and SC+ (57.69%, 30/52 negative groups, whereas males were more frequent in the CC+
(63.16%, 24/38) and NC+ (53.33%, 32/60) groups. The highest mean age was observed in the SC+group. A frequency
of 19.19% (38/198) and 14.65% (29/198) was found for the HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 alleles, respectively.
Individuals carrying the HLA-DRB1*11 allele had an approximately sixfold higher risk of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2
infection (OR=5.72 [1.683–19.442], p=0.005) based on the association analysis.
Conclusions Altogether, the present study reports high frequency of HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 alleles within a
population from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The results suggest that individuals carrying the HLA-DRB1*11 allele are
more susceptible to COVID-19 infection but may not display symptoms.

Severe COVID-19, HLA-DRB1*11, HLA-DRB1*12, Genotypes, Burkina Faso