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Serologic Studies in Typhus-Vaccinated Individuals

I. The Effect of a Stimulating Dose of Typhus Vaccine on the Weil-Felix and Complement-Fixing Antibodies

From the Cairo unit of the U.S.A. Typhus Commission

Abstract

The accurate diagnosis of typhus fever in vaccinated individuals may be extremely difficult, clinically, since the course may be very mild and without the manifestation of a rash (1, 2). Isolation and identification of the causative agent from the blood of such patients is a difficult and time-consuming procedure. Furthermore, it has been the experience of some workers that the virus is recovered with less frequency from patients who contract typhus following an ordinary course of vaccination (3 cc.) than in non-vaccinated cases. Especially does this seem to be true when the usual ground blood-clot to guinea-pig method of isolation is used (3). Thus, the complexity of the procedure, and the diminished chance of recovering the causative agent render the isolation method of diagnosis impracticable for general use.

Fortunately, other diagnostic aids are available in serologic tests such as complement-fixation with rickettsial antigens, and the classic Weil-Felix agglutination test with B. proteus OX-19 suspensions.