FIG. 5.

Viral load and disease progression after vaginal HSV-2 infection in C57BL/6 mice. Five days prior to infection, the mice were treated with Depo-Provera. Six or 24 h before infection, the mice were treated with 5 μg of IFN-α (5,000 IU), IFN-λ, PBS, or CpG DNA. The animals were infected i.vag. with 6.7 × 10⁴ PFU of HSV-2, and vaginal washes were performed at the indicated time points postinfection. (A) Viral load in vaginal washes 24, 48, and 72 h after infection. The results are shown as mean values ± SD (error bars). (B) Development of inflammation and disease up to 20 days after infection. Disease scores are explained in detail in Materials and Methods, but a disease score of 0 was given to a healthy mouse and a score of 5 was given for death or sacrifice of a mouse due to hind limb paralysis. The results are shown as mean values (n = 5).