Complement-Fixation in Rickettsial Diseases

Recent experience with the complement fixation test in the laboratory diagnosis of rickettsial diseases in the United States.

Sera from patients suspected of having rickettsial infections were tested in the complement fixation test with antigens prepared from the rickettsiae of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (SF), rickettsial pox (RP), murine typhus, epidemic typhus, and from Rickettsia canada (RC). Eight units of antigen were used in all cases and two units in man. Only those patients with antibody titers of 1:16 or hi...

Treatment in the Rickettsial Diseases

Indirect Complement Fixation in Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Rickettsia and Rickettsial Diseases

Rickettsia prowazekii and R. rickettsii are HHS and USDA select agents (http://biosafety.utk.edu/pdfs/salist.pdf), and R. prowazekii is a category B bioterrorism agent as determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/agentlist-category.asp). The criteria for CDC category B bioterrorism agents are that the organisms are moderately easy to dissemi...

Antimicrobial therapy of rickettsial diseases.

Among the rickettsioses, Q fever has specific pathological and clinical features which do not allow it to be reviewed in comparison with other rickettsioses. Arthropod-borne rickettsioses comprise three distinct disease groups: spotted fever rickettsioses, typhus, and scrub typhus. Among the spotted fever rickettsioses, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF), and...