Weil Felix Test: Principle, Procedure, Limitation

Weil-Felix is a nonspecific agglutination test that detects anti-rickettsial antibodies in patients’ serum. Weil-Felix test is based on cross-reactions that occur between antibodies produced in acute rickettsial infections with antigens of OX (OX  19, OX 2, and OXK) strains of Proteus species.  Dilution of the patient’s serum is tested against suspensions of the different Proteus strains.

Several rickettsiae, such as Rickettsia prowazekii, Rickettsia tsutsugamushi, and R. rickettsii, possess antigens that cross-react with antigens of OX strains of Proteus vulgaris. Proteus OXK strain agglutinins are produced in scrub typhus and OX 2 and OX 19 agglutinins in other rickettsial diseases, see the table below

OrganismWeil-Felix Reaction
 OX 19OX 2OXK
R. prowazekii (epidemic typhus)+ + ++/-
R. typhi (murine typhus)+ + ++/-
R. tsutsugamushi (scrub typhus)+ + +
R. rickettsii (Rocky Mountain Spotted fever)+/ + + ++/ + + +

Limitation of Weil-Felix test:

Both sensitivity and specificity of the Weil-Felix test are low, but its predictive value can be increased by testing both acute and convalescent-phase samples and observing a rise in antibody titre.

Weil-Felix test has low sensitivity, i.e. it gives a high percentage of false-negative results. This is common in the case of scrub typhus .

It also shows low specificity, i.e. false-positive results are obtained in other diseases such as leptospirosis, and relapsing fever (diseases which require differentiating from rickettsial infections), in Proteus infections, brucellosis, and acute febrile illness.

References

  1. Cox, A. L., Zubair, M., & Tadi, P. (2023). Weil Felix Test. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.
  2. Amano K. (2005). Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine, 63 Suppl 7, 146–148.

Acharya Tankeshwar

Hello, thank you for visiting my blog. I am Tankeshwar Acharya. Blogging is my passion. As an asst. professor, I am teaching microbiology and immunology to medical and nursing students at PAHS, Nepal. I have been working as a microbiologist at Patan hospital for more than 10 years.

5 thoughts on “Weil Felix Test: Principle, Procedure, Limitation

  1. My Weil Felix results as under ANTIGENOX2 1:100
    ANTIGEN OXK 1:80
    ANTIGENOX191:80
    WHAT DOES IT MEAN

  2. Respected sir, my son age 22 monthsmonths. His Weil Felix test results as follows. OX K 1:160, OX2 1:160 & OX19 1:80. can you please explain wt it means, is their any sever problem. Please help me to know about this test.

    1. Please consult with your Physician. He/She is the best person to talk about the test results.

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