Standardized Clinical Scoring for Campylobacter jejuni Infection

The clinical conditions of the mice were surveyed prior and post respective C. jejuni infections on a daily basis by applying a standardized cumulative clinical score (maximum 12 points). These scores included the abundance of blood in feces as detected by the Guajac method using a Haemoccult, Beckman Coulter (PCD, Krefeld, Germany) (score 0: no blood; 2: microscopic detection of blood; 4: macroscopic blood visible), presence of diarrhea (score 0: formed feces; 2: pasty feces; 4: liquid feces), and by visual clinical and behavioral symptoms (score 0: normal; 2: ruffled fur and/or less locomotion; 4: isolation, severely compromised locomotion, pre-final aspect) as described earlier [29 (link)].