Retrospective serological study of spp. and spp. antibodies in patients with peripheral facial nerve palsy.

In a retrospective study, 36 patients with peripheral facial palsy were serologically evaluated for the presence of spp. and spp. antibodies. All sera underwent immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis for IgG and IgM antibodies using and as antigens. Anti- antibodies were detected using a commercial ELISA detecting and . Three patients (8.3%) were seropositive for spp. with IgG titres equal to 1:128, and six patients (16.7%) had IgM titres equal to or above 1:128. All samples with IgG/IgM titres equal to or above 1:128 were confirmed by Western Blot. Four patients (11.1%) had IgG antibodies against at a titre level normally judged to be indicative of current infection. Two of these patients had significant IgG or IgM titres for both spp. and spp., indicating co-infection. In conclusion, the findings indicate current rickettsial infection or early response at about the same degree as for Lyme borreliosis in patients with facial palsy, but they need to be further examined with a larger number of patients and paired serum analyses.