Comparative study of rat-paw oedema tests for assessing reactivity of B. pertussis-containing combined vaccines.

Two volumetric (electrocapacity plethysmography and mercury volumetry) and two linear methods (a new type of scale and a calliper rule) for rat-paw oedema measurement used in local reactivity of combined vaccines containing a B. pertussis component were compared. The reproducibility and sensitivity of the methods was tested on a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine and a toxic pertussis suspension. The linear methods proved more adequate for measuring small and chiefly unidirectionally (vertically) progressing oedemas.