1958 Volume 27 Issue 5 Pages 409-417
Rats were inoculated intraperitoneally with BCG vaccine and then challenged with murine leprosy bacilli at 1, 5, 10 and 20 weeks. The duration of immunity and the fate of BCG in the organs was examined. The following results were obtained.
1) From the standpoint of leproma development, onset is suppressed in the group challenged at 1 weed and the suppression is even greater at 5, 10 and 20 weeks after BCG inoculation. (Fig. 1)
2) Compared to the control, the weight of the leproma is less and the number of bacilli in the inguinal and axillary lymphnodes is smaller in the BCG inoculatea groups. (Fig. 2, Table 5, and Photo.)
3) Cultivation of the BCG in the organs showed that there was proliferation up to 5 weeks. There is a sharp decrease thereafter and at 26 weeks, the bacilli have disappeared for the most part. (Fig. 3 and 4, Table 6)
4) Immune effect becomes appareut fromes in 1 to 20 weeks but the time of maximum immunity could not be clarified. The above results soow that growth of the murine leprosy bacilli is slower than that of the tubercle bacilli and on this account the duration of immunity is somewhat longer.
