FIGURE 8.

Bacterial load in BAL and lung tissue homogenate following tracheal inoculation of PBS, and increasing inocula (10⁶, 10⁷, and 10⁸ CFU) of live and inactivated S. haemolyticus. Data are expressed as median values, interquartile 25th–75th range and extreme values (>2 SD). (A) Kruskal–Wallis p = 0.002; ^∗indicates p < 0.05 for 10⁸ CFU versus PBS and 10⁶ CFU; (B) Kruskal–Wallis p = 0.04; ^∗indicates p = 0.046 for 10⁸ CFU versus 10⁶ CFU; (C) Kruskal–Wallis p = 0.003; ^∗indicates p < 0.05 for 10⁸ CFU and 10⁷ CFU versus PBS. (D) No significant differences of bacterial colonies in BALF among the inactivated S. haemolyticus groups.