Seroepidemiology of spotted fever group and typhus group rickettsioses in humans, South Korea.
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.
Jang
Won-Jong
WJ
Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Kon-Kuk University, Choongju-si, Choongbuk, Republic of Korea.
Choi
Yeon-Joo
YJ
Kim
Jong-Hyun
JH
Jung
Kwang-Don
KD
Ryu
Ji-Sun
JS
Lee
Seung-Hyun
SH
Yoo
Cheon-Kwon
CK
Paik
Hyung-Suk
HS
Choi
Myung-Sik
MS
Park
Kyung-Hee
KH
Kim
Ik-Sang
IS
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
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M