FIG. 3.

Effect of capsule removal on the number of GAS organisms in the internal organs of superinfected mice. (A) Ten mice were intranasally infected first with IAV (100 FFU) on day −2 and then with GAS strains (10⁷ CFU) on day 0. The number of GAS organisms in the lungs was assessed on day 1. Circles under the broken line indicate that GAS was not detectable. Horizontal bars indicate the median values. Wilcoxon two-sample rank tests were used to evaluate the differences between groups: P = 0.1403, P = 0.0003, P = 0.1032, P = 0.2718, and P = 0.0880, respectively, for TR-5, TR-8, TR-10, TR-11, and or TR-17 versus SSI-9. (B) The numbers of GAS organisms in the lungs, livers, spleens, and kidneys of mice superinfected with IAV and SSI-9, or TR-8 were determined on days 1 and 3. Circles under the broken line indicate that GAS was undetectable. Horizontal bars indicate the median values. Mann-Whitney U tests were used to evaluate differences between groups *, P < 0.01; **, P < 0.05.