Influenza virus infection of the guinea pig: immune response and resistance

Guinea pigs were inoculated by intranasal inoculation with unadapted, influenza virus A/England/42/72, and virus was recovered from nasal washings between 3 and 10 days post-inoculation. Infected animals did not exhibit a febrile response to infection, did not produce local antibody and produced only relatively low levels of serum antibody. However, they developed delayed-type hypersensitivity to influenza virus, demonstrable by both skin tests and macrophage migration inhibition tests, which was similar to that of man. The relevance of the influenza virus specific delayed hypersensitivity in immunity to infection was examined in this model. Guinea pigs previously infected with virus or passively immunized with hyperimmune serum were relatively resistant to reinfection with influenza virus A/England/42/72. Inoculation of guinea pigs with spleen cells from immune donor animals, together with or without immune serum, did not give or enhance resistance to challenge virus infection. The results do not suggest a role for delayed hypersensitivity response in immunity to influenza virus infection.