title: Seroepidemiology of spotted fever group and typhus group rickettsioses in humans, South Korea.
abstract: The prevalence of spotted fever group (SFG) and typhus group (TG) rickettsioses was investigated in 3,362 sera by immunofluorescence assay. The serum samples were obtained from patients with acute febrile episodes in South Korea from December 1992 to November 1993. The number of polyvalent positive sera against SFG rickettsial agents at the level of 1: 40 dilution was 269 (8%) in Rickettsia sibirica, 482 (14.34%) in R. conorii, and 546 (16.24%) in R. akari. Many of the positive sera contained immunoglobulin (Ig) M antibodies rather than IgG antibodies. These results strongly suggest that SFG rickettsioses are prevalent in Korea. For TG rickettsial agents, the number of positive sera was 1,096 (32.60%) in R. typhi and 951 (28.29%) in R. prowazekii. Only a few epidemic typhus positive sera contained IgM antibodies. The result suggests that recent and/or primary infections of epidemic typhus were very rare in Korea during the said period. Among seven patients who had high titers (1:5,120) of IgG antibody to R. prowazekii, six were over 50 years old. The result suggests that Brill-Zinsser disease was prevalent in Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Kon-Kuk University, Choongju-si, Choongbuk, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Won-Jong
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Yeon-Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jong-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kwang-Don
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Ji-Sun
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Seung-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Cheon-Kwon
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Hyung-Suk
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.forename: Myung-Sik
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Kyung-Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ik-Sang
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001907:Boutonneuse Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014438:Typhus, Epidemic Louse-Borne / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M