FIG. 4.
Immunization with rVV-ES-gB498-505 reduces the extent of HSV infection. Mice were immunized i.n. with either PBS-BSA or 107 PFU or rVV-ES-gB498-505 or rVV-ES-IV. Four to six weeks later, mice received i.n. a lethal dose of 5 × 105 PFU HSV-2 186. Five days later, the brains (A) and trigeminal ganglia (B) were removed and the level of infectious HSV-2 present in the tissues was determined by plaque analysis. The lower limit of detection (10 PFU/tissue) is indicated by the dashed line. The geometric mean of each immunization group is depicted by the solid horizontal line. The mean level of infectious virus recovered from the rVV-ES-gB498-505-immunized and rVV-ES-IV-immunized mice was compared to that of PBS-BSA-immunized mice, using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test. Data represent the results of two independent experiments.