Isolation of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi from the blood samples of patients in Taiwan
Chen, H.L.; Shieh, G.J.; Chen, H.Y.; Horng, C.B.
Journal of the Formosan Medical Association 94(Suppl): S112-S119
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0929-6646 PMID: 8672939 Document Number: 448391
Scrub typhus, an acute, febrile eruptive disease caused by Rickettsia tsutsugamushi, is one of the Most commonly reported communicable diseases in Taiwan. However, information about the epidemic trends of scrub typhus in Taiwan is still very limited. Therefore, this study was performed to isolate the causative agent and determine the prevalence of three different serotypes. From June 1992 to December 1994, lymphocyte cell cultures were grown from blood specimens of 142 suspected scrub typhus patients from different regions of Taiwan. Cell cultures were assayed for R. tsutsugamuhi via immuno-fluorescence, using antisera against Gillian, Karp and Kato strains. Thirty-three of the specimens were positive for R. tsutsugamushi, including one from Keelung, 23 from Taitung, 2 from Kinmen and 7 from Lienjan. Of these, 15 were classified as Gilliam-related types, 10 were Karp-related types and 8 were not positively classified. These results indicate Gilliam-and Karp-related serotype are more prevalent than the Kato-related serotype in Taiwan.