Abstract:

Objective To detect the antibody against scrub typhus in sera from patients in an outbreak of murine typhus. Methods The IgG against murine typhus and scrub typhus from 20 sera samples collected from patients in an outbreak were tested by indirect immunofluoresence assay (IFA). Results For the 20 cases, 13 cases were positive with IgG antibody against murine typhus (accounting for 65%), 2 cases were positive with IgG antibody against scrub typhus and murine typhus (accounting for 10%). Conclusion There were patients infected with chigger simultaneously in this outbreak of murine typhus and it was necessary for medical institutions to enhance the diagnosis and differential diagnosis forscrub typhus and murine typhus.

Key words: Scrub typhus, Murine typhus, IgG antibody, IFA test