Speaker(s):Hal Smith
Department of Mathematics and Statistics

Title:"The Dynamics of Bacterial Infection, Innate Immune Response, and Antibiotic Treatment"

Abstract: We develop a simple mathematical model of a bacteria colonization of host tissue, potentially leading to tissue infection, which takes account of nutrient availability and innate immune response. Specifically, our model includes phagocytosis of pathogens by macrophages and other phagocytes. 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. The dynamics of antibiotic treatment of the infection is also considered. Compartmental modeling of the pharmacokinetics of drug delivery is superimposed on the infection model described above. General time-dependent drug delivery is considered. We give explicit criteria for successful antibiotic treatment of the infection and for treatment failure. Treatment failure is characterized in terms of the persistence of the pathogen.