title: To treat or not to treat: the case of tuberculosis.
abstract: Incomplete treatment of patients with infectious tuberculosis (TB) may not only lead to relapse but also to the development of antibiotic resistant TB-one of the most serious health problems facing society today. In this article, we formulate one-strain and two-strain TB models to determine possible mechanisms that may allow for the survival and spread of naturally resistant strains of TB as well as antibiotic-generated resistant strains of TB. Analysis of our models shows that non-antibiotic co-existence is possible but rare for naturally resistant strains while co-existence is almost the rule for strains that result from the lack of compliance with antibiotic treatment by TB infected individuals.
authors.affiliation: Biometrics Unit, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Castillo-Chavez
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents