The dynamics of bacterial infection, innate immune response, and antibiotic treatment

Abstract

We develop a simple mathematical model of a bacterial colonization of host tissue which takes account of nutrient availability and innate immune response. The model features an infection-free state which is locally but not globally attracting implying that a super-threshold bacterial inoculum is required for successful colonization and tissue infection. A subset B of the domain of attraction of the disease-free state is explicitly identified. The dynamics of antibiotic treatment of the infection is also considered. Successful treatment results if the antibiotic dosing regime drives the state of the system into B.