Clinical and serological study of tsutsugamushi disease in northern Osumi, Kagoshima Prefecture

We report 34 cases of tsutsugamushi disease seen from 1989 to 1993 at Yagi Clinic, northern Osumi, Kagoshima Prefecture. Nineteen patients (55.9%) showed the highest antibody titers against the Kawasaki strain Orientia tsutsugamushi (Ot) and 13 (38.2%) against the Kuroki strain Ot. It is suggested that two antigenic types (Kawasaki and Kuroki) of Ot were distributed in Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Kawasaki type Ot more or less dominates Kuroki type Ot. There was no difference in clinical features between the two groups of patients.