Conclusion
Had our endemic typhus areas shown a higher figure for OXK agglutinations than the non-endemic the possibility of a mutation from a scrub typhus type of fever to epidemic typhus might have had to be considered, but in view of the fact that it is the non-endemic areas that show a consistently higher figure, it would seem that the OXK reaction is without any significance for endemic typhus in this country, though it is difficult to understand why an apparently non-specific reaction should be so very much higher in non-endemic than in endemic areas.
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Communicated to the Section of State Medicine, December 5th, 1947.
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MacCarthy, E. Public health problems created by louse infestation. Ir J Med Sci 23, 65–78 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02956430
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02956430