Fig. 7

Best area for inoculation. We used two ways to inoculate S. pyogenes on the mouse pinna, in both methods the pinna was pierced with 23-gauge hypodermic needles over three points; the graphs show the average between the increases of the ear thickness caused by the damage on the pinna and recorded every day. S. pyogenes was inoculated in one pinna while the contralateral was inoculated with PBS as control, the deviation bars show SEM. a Inoculation near to the edge of the auricle: we found statistical difference in ear thickness during the first 2 days after the inoculation (n = 8, p <0.047 paired t student test). b Inoculation at the center of the auricle with a punch made with 3 needles arranged in a triangular shape: we found a statistical difference in ear thickness during 6 days post-inoculation, (n = 8, p <0.048 paired t student test)