title: Delay effect in a model for virus replication.
abstract: As biology becomes more quantitative, it appears that the increasing use of mathematics in this area is inevitable. In 1996, Nowak & Bangham (1996, Science 272, 74-79) proposed three mathematical models to explore the relation between antiviral immune responses, virus load, and virus diversity. In this paper we investigate the delay effect in a model which considers the interaction between a replicating virus and host cells. We assume that there is a finite time lag between infection of a cell and the emission of viral particles. Even with the introduction of this delay, the steady states of the model--as suggested by Nowak & Bangham--remain stable. The result also gives a condition for how the parameter values should be chosen when analysing clinical data so that the model remains tenable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Mathematics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon. MAJUDYTH@SMTPGWY.POLYU.EDU.HK
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tam
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology*; D014780:Viruses / Q000276:immunology