Resistance to reinfection with a chlamydial agent (guinea pig inclusion conjunctivitis agent)

Although most chlamydial infections are chronic or recurrent, infection of the guinea pig's eye with guinea pig inclusion conjunctivitis (GPIC) agent induces a marked resistance to reinfection. To characterize this resistance to GPIC agent, we compared the disease and infection in previously infected guinea pigs with that in animals infected for the first time. In animals experiencing primary infection, even the lowest dose (10 egg-lethal doses [ELD50]) produced the disease and chlamydial inclusions in conjunctival smears, but the incubation period became progressively shorter with the highest inocula (10(4) and 10(5) ELD50). In animals with previous infection only these two highest inocula produced disease and infection, but the disease was short-lived, and replication of the agent was severely limited. The mechanism of this resistance may be due to secretory antibody in the tears, cellular immunity, or other local factors.