Figure 5.

Comparison of long-term protective immunity established after unvaccinated mice resolved a primary natural genital infection (•) and after mice immunized with PR8-TINK (▪) or PR8-TINK + PR8-P12 (◊) recombinant viruses cleared a challenge infection. Mice that cleared their infection (primary or challenge following vaccination with recombinants) were reinfected with C. trachomatis serovar D on day 97 after the cleared infection. The course of the infection in each group was monitored by cervico-vaginal swabbing and isolation of chlamydiae in tissue culture according to standard procedure.³¹ The data are expressed as log of mean IFU from independent animal evaluation in each of the three groups compared. The experiments were repeated twice with six mice per experimental group. The course of the primary infection in naïve mice (•) is transposed on the graph to illustrate the difference between a primary infection and reinfection.