An Epidemiologic and Immunologic Study of Boutonneuse Fever in Israel.

摘要

Sera from suspected cases of rickettsioses were tested by fluorescent antibody and complement fixation. The former method revealed more cases of past and present infection than the latter. Follow-up bleedings from cases of murine typhus and spotted fever indicated that IgM antibodies against rickettsiae may persist at low levels for six months or longer. Human sera were found to contain a non-antibody inhibitor of reverse passive hemagglutination. However, immune sera could be titrated by measuring the difference in agglutinating titer of antigen diluted in constant concentrations of the immune serum and of normal serum. Reverse passive hemagglutination can be used to differentiate between epidemic and murine typhus rickettsiae. A strain of spotted fever was isolated from the blood of a child just before death with disseminated intravascular coagulation. The strain was found to be antigenically similar to five of the six previously isolated in Israel. (Author)