The Weil-Felix test is a heterophile agglutination test used to diagnose rickettsial infections.
It detects antibodies against certain proteus species (OX2, OX19, OXK) that cross-react with rickettsia antigens.
|
Disease |
Weil-Felix test result |
|
• Epidemic typhus (Rickettsia prowazekii) • Endemic typhus (Rickettsia typhi) |
OX19 positive |
|
Rocky Mountain spotted fever (Rickettsia rickettsii) |
• OX2 positive • OX19 positive |
|
Scrub typhus (Orientia tsutsugamushi) |
OXK positive |
|
Rickettsial pox (Rickettsia Akari) |
All negative- • OX2 negative • OX19 negative • OXK negative |