| Abstract | We formulate a model to describe the dynamics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt.) considering only four populations: uninfected macrophages, infected macrophages, T cells and Mt. Our objective is to capture the essential features of the phenomenom, trying to simplify the great number of variables involved in the immunological mechanisms induced by Mt. While our model is overly simple comparing to the complexity of the immune response to Mt., it has interesting predictions, and the results of the model reproduce basically the cellular response. The dynamics of the model is given in terms of the basic reproduction number Ro, a threshold that has been used largely in understanding the persistence of viral or bacterial infections within individuals. Analysis of the model reveals the existence of two equilibria: the infection-free equilibrium in which the bacteria is cleaned, and the infected equilibrium. Depending on the amount of bacteria, this state might represent a latent state or an active infection. |
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