Standardized mouse infection models as a way of evaluating the potency of anti-infectious agents.

Standardized bacterial and viral mouse infection models have been developed. Infections with extracellular bacteria (K. pneumoniae, S. pneumoniae, S. pyogenes A) were produced by either of two routes: via the intravenous route (i.v.) resulting in septicaemia and the intranasal route (i.n.) giving infections confined to the respiratory apparatus. Infections with intracellular bacteria (L. monocytogenes, S. typhimurium) were produced only by the i.v. route. Two types of viral infection, mild and severe, were produced. Infection with influenza virus was by aerosol and herpes virus HSV-1 by the intraperitoneal route. All infection models produced under strictly controlled conditions were shown to be characterized by a remarkable reproducibility regarding both the pattern of development and death rate. The infection models lend themselves to estimation of the efficacy of a drug as well as the designing of new therapeutic strategies.