[Modelling of influenza infection in mice inoculated by the aerosol method]

Modelling of experimental influenza infection was performed in an aerosol apparatus the main element of which was a glove box made of organic glass. Mice were infected by inhalation of a highly dispersed aerosol of influenza A2/Victoria/72 virus adapted to the mouse lungs. The aerosol was produced by means of a pneumatic atomizer. The fraction-dispersion composition of the aerosol, for the determination of which Andersen's cascade impactor was used, was characterized by virus-containing particles of 0.6 to 1.8 micrometer capable of penetrating to alveolar passages. A curve reflecting the dose--effect function was drawn on the basis of the relationship between the dilution of aerosolized virus suspension and mouse death rates. Virological, bacteriological, and histopathological examinations of the lungs of the infected mice revealed a correlation between the time of the animals' death, maximum influenza virus reproduction, multiplication of staphylococcal autoflora and the intensity of pathomorphological lesions.