Overview of immune response evolving after <i>B. pertussis</i> infection.

<p>Merging data from a wide array of functional analyses reveals a comprehensive overview of the immune response of mice upon <i>B. pertussis</i> infection. (i) Innate phase, (ii) bridging phase and (iii) adaptive phase are indicated in the response facing variable levels of <i>B. pertussis</i> present in the initial inoculum, the exponential growth phase, and in the clearance phase, respectively. Highlights of the study are given, based on lung clearance, relative gene expression levels (lungs), cytokine profiles (serum), cellular response (spleen) and pertussis-specific responses in serum and spleen as depicted in the figure legend.