A test to see if someone has typhus, in which the person’s serum is tested for antibodies against Proteus vulgaris [Described 1916. After Edmund Weil (1880-1922) Austrian physician and bacteriologist; Arthur Felix (1887—1956), British bacteriologist.]
A diagnostic test for typhus. A sample of the patient’s serum is tested for the presence of antibodies against the organism Proteus vulgaris. Although this relatively harmless organism is not the cause of typhus, it possesses certain antigens in common with the causative agent of the disease and can therefore be used instead of it in laboratory tests. Typhus is suspected if antibodies are found to be present.