STUDY OF RECRUIDESCENT TYPHUS IN ISRAEL

Abstract

Abstract : The purpose of the study was to determine the occurrence and rate of 'serorelapses' in persons who recovered from epidemic typhus. The study was conducted among immigrants who came to Israel from Eastern Europe after Second World War and suffered in their former residence a primary attack of classical exanthematic typhus. Israel is free of epidemic typhus infection and no human body lice are known to exist. The 294 individuals under study were bled at least three times and from the majority of them (262 persons) six blood samples were obtained. All the individuals enlisted were visited, interviewed, their histories checked and special questionnaires filled out. CF tests were carried out and completed on the serial bleedings of 125 volunteers. The serological results were into five major groups as follows: Group A - 42 persons with titers of <10 and no fluctuations in the antibody level. Group B - 35 persons whose sera throughout all bleedings gave persistent low CF titers, in the range of 1:10 to 1:40 (with a predominance of 1:20). Group C - 16 individuals whose sera throughout five to six bleedings showed persistent CF titers in the range of 1:40 to 1:80. Group E - 21 persons whose sera turned out to be anticomplementary. Outstanding is Group D which is composed of 11 cases, out of the 125 tested, who exhibited frequent variations in CF titer - four to eight-fold. It is a matter of interpretation if these eleven volunteers constitute evidence for what has been termed 'sero-relapses'.