[2] Weil-Felix is a nonspecific agglutination test which detects anti-rickettsial antibodies in patient’s serum.
William James Wilson (1879-1954) had noticed a similar cross reaction of anti-rickettsial antobodies with other enteric bacteria.
[6] As a result, it has largely been supplanted by other methods of serology, including indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) testing, which is the gold standard.
However, in resource-limited settings, it still remains an important tool in the diagnosis and identification of public health concerns, such as outbreaks of epidemic typhus.
Using 0.25% phenol saline as a diluent, a series of tubes containing twofold dilutions of patient serum are made with a final volume of 1 mL.