Observations on the Weil-Felix Reaction in Tsutsugamushi Disease

Abstract

1. The Weil-Felix reaction in a series of forty-five cases of tsutsugamushi disease (type Schüffner) is recorded.2. The agglutination reaction was negative in fifteen cases, the other thirty showing a positive reaction with the “Kingsbury” strain of B. proteus X.3. The Weil-Felix reaction is not regarded as an adequate method for differentiating tsutsugamushi disease from scrub typhus, since high titres (1 in 1000) occur in a considerable proportion of cases of tsutsugamushi disease.4. In the present state of our knowledge of the two diseases it is recommended that they should be separated according to the presence or absence of a primary ulcer and bubo.