Investigating viral and rickettsial
infections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the authors submitted 115 sera of healthy persons to
complement-fixation tests with
typhus,
Q fever,
mumps,
rickettsialpox, and
psittacosis antigens. The results obtained indicate that the Moslem population tends to show more
typhus-positive titres, and at an earlier age, than the non-Moslem. While Moslems under 20 years old tend to develop
typhus in epidemic form, an approximately equal number of epidemic and apparently sporadic cases occurs among non-Moslems. On the other hand,
Q fever is more frequent, and occurs earlier, in the non-Moslems. An epidemiological explanation of these phenomena is advanced.From the findings on
mumps, it is thought possible that this disease tends to be primarily one of children in Moslems but not in non-Moslems. The
rickettsialpox titres suggest the presence of an agent or agents antigenically related to Ricksettsia akari, and the
psittacosis titres are thought to be caused by contact with organisms of the
psittacosis and
lymphogranuloma venereum group.