[Quantitative test for evaluating immunoreactivity in vaccinated mice with coccidioidosis]

The interaction between hypersensitivity of delayed type and the severity of infection was studied in albino mice vaccinated and survived after the intranasal infection with 100 LD50 of Coccidioidosis immitis (pulmonary model of coccidiasis). The method of determination of the weight of the lungs and edema of the paw pads after the administration of the specific antigen permitted to assess the intensity of immunity quantitatively. There was an inverse correlation between the weight of the affected lungs and edema of the limbs, and in case of pregressive development of coccidioidosis--between the weight of the body and the lungs. A formula for determining the immunoreactivity index in the vaccinated mice infected with the causative agents of lung infections, in the mechanism of whose defence the prevailing role was played by cellular immunity, is suggested.