Rickettsia tsutsugamushi infection and scrub typhus incidence among chinese military personnel in the pescadores islands

Olson, J. G., and A. L. Bourgeois (NAMRU-2, Box 14, APO San Francisco 96263). Rickettsia tsutsugamushi infection and scrub typhus incidence among Chinese military personnel in the Pescadores Islands. Am J Epidemiol 106:172-175, 1977.Personnel assigned to infantry units of the army of the Republic of China (Talwan) stationed in the Pescadores Islands experienced the highest incidence rate of scrub typhus (4%) and the highest rate of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi infection (12%) of the units studied during 1976. The ratio of scrub typhus to infection with R. tsutsugamushi was 30%. Non-Immune personnel, when infected, were more likely to develop scrub typhus than were those who had previously been infected. There was a correlation between clinical illness and high antibody titers developed in response to the infection.