Song H J, Seong S Y, Huh M S, Park S G, Jang W J, Kee S H, Kim K H, Kim S C, Choi M S, Kim I S, Chang W H
Microbiology Division, Health and Environment Institute of Chollanam-do, Kwangiu, Korea.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1998 Apr;58(4):513-8. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1998.58.513.
Field rodents were collected from six areas in southern Cholla Province, Korea from October to December 1993. Twenty-eight (24%) of the 119 Apodemus agrarius were seropositive (> 1:10) for Orientia tsutsugamushi by the passive hemagglutination assay (PHA). Of the seropositive cases, 11 specimens had antibody titers greater than 1:80. No seropositive specimens were found among the eight Crocidura lasiura collected. On the other hand, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified about 520 basepairs of a gene encoding the 56-kD protein from the genomic DNA of 12 strains of O. tsutsugamushi tested. This target DNA sequence was amplified from the 11 (8.7%) blood specimens of A. agrarius, and one of the eight C. lasiura also showed evidence of O. tsutsugamushi infection by PCR. Only one of the PCR-positive samples was also PHA-positive. These results suggest that the PCR combined with a serologic assay more accurately detects the degree of infection of rodents with rickettsiae-causing scrub typhus in epidemiologic surveys.
1993年10月至12月，从韩国全罗南道的六个地区采集了野生啮齿动物。通过被动血凝试验（PHA）检测，119只黑线姬鼠中有28只（24%）恙虫病东方体血清呈阳性（>1:10）。在血清呈阳性的病例中，11份标本的抗体滴度大于1:80。在所采集的8只长尾麝鼩中未发现血清呈阳性的标本。另一方面，聚合酶链反应（PCR）从所检测的12株恙虫病东方体的基因组DNA中扩增出了约520个碱基对的编码56-kD蛋白的基因。该目标DNA序列从11只（8.7%）黑线姬鼠的血液标本中扩增出来，8只长尾麝鼩中的1只通过PCR也显示出恙虫病东方体感染的证据。PCR阳性样本中只有一份PHA也呈阳性。这些结果表明，在流行病学调查中，PCR与血清学检测相结合能更准确地检测啮齿动物感染引起恙虫病的立克次体的程度。
