An army jawan posted in remote forest area had fever and headache. His fever was 104degF and pulse was 70 per min. He had an erythematous lesion of about 1 cm on the leg surrounded by small vesicles, along with generalized lymphadenopathy at the time of presentation to the referral hospital. His blood sample was collected to perform serology for the diagnosis of Rickettsial disease. Which one of the following results in Weil-felix reaction will be diagnostic in this clinical setting -: (A) High OX - 2, (B) High OX - 19, (C) High OX - K, (D) High OX - 19 and OX - 2
Answer is C. Ans. is 'c' i.e., High OX - K . Fever, headache, erythmatous lesion along with generalized lymphadenopathy are suggestive of scrub typhus. . In scrub typhus, Weil - Felix reaction is strongly positive with the proteus strain OX - K. Note ---> In this question the key word is lymphadenopathy. Amongst the typhus group, lymphadenopathy is seen only in scrub typhus.