Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 57, 257-259, 2004

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Original Article

Attempt to Curtail the Observation Period of Mice in the Tetanus Vaccine Potency Tests

Tadashi Fukuda*, Masaaki Iwaki, Takako Komiya, Yoshichika Arakawa and Motohide Takahashi

Department of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Infection Control, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan

(Received April 21, 2004. Accepted July 23, 2004)

*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Department of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Infection Control, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 4-7-1 Gakuen, Musashimurayama, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan. Tel: +81-42-561-0771 ext.545, Fax: +81-42-561-7173, E-mail: yfukuda@nih.go.jp


SUMMARY: Curtailing the observation of mice challenged with tetanus toxin in potency test of tetanus vaccine would reduce the agony of mice from spastic paralysis. From the viewpoint of animal welfare, we investigated the feasibility this measure. The potencies of 85 lots of vaccine obtained on the 4th day after challenge were compared with those obtained on the seventh day. No significant difference was found (P = 0.05), indicating that the observation period could be curtailed from 7 days to 4 days without impairing the assessment of the vaccine's potency.

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