Seven cases of scrub typhus which occurred among infantrymen of the Ground Self- Defense Force at the Fuji School were investigated etiologicolly as well as serologically.
All cases showed positive Weil-Felix reaction against OXK and positive complement fi xation test (CFT) against Karp antigen.
Thus they were diagnosed as scrub typrus not only clinically but also serologically. In general, the production of CF antibody in sera of patients was delayed 4-5 days compared with OXK antibody.
The rickettsia was isolated not only from blood of 4 cases but from regional lymph nodes of 2 cases. One of the new isolates, Uemura strain, was identified as
R. orientalis by cross challenge test in mice.
Attempts were made to and cases, which escaped physicians' attention, by immunoepidemiological survey with sera collected from infantrymen of the school.
i) A limited number of blood specimens from the 3rd year and 2nd year classes and recruits, who entered the school after the epidemic was over, were examined by CFT. Some individuals with positive reaction were found among the 3rd and 2nd year subgroups with history of minor illness, but none among the healthy subgroups.
ii) Three months after the epidemic was over, blood specimens were examined from about 150 infantrymen treated at the dispensary as having had common cold during the scrub typhus epidemic from October to November, 1959. Ten specimens were found positive.
From the foregoing, it is clear, that scrub typhus in this aerea may not always show the typical symptoms, but sometimes remain very mild and be diagnosed simply as common cold.
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