[Seroepidemiological investigations on the prevalence of rickettsial antibodies in man in the Federal Republic of Germany (author's transl)].

1,600 random serum samples from inhabitants of Hesse were investigated for rickettsial antibodies by complement fixation test. Antibodies were found in 19 samples (1,2%) against RMSF-group antigen with titers between 1:10 and 1:640. These results confirm recent reports on natural foci of such rickettsial infections in the Federal Republic of Germany. Antibodies against rickettsia of the Typhus-group or Coxiella burnetii could not be detected by the complement fixation reaction. None of the sera reacted with significant titer in the Weil-Felix-Test.