Modeling the Chronification Tendency of Liver Infections as Evolutionary Advantage.
Cordula ReischDirk LangemannPublished in: Bulletin of mathematical biology (2019)
Here, we discuss how the tendency of a liver infection to chronify can be seen as an evolutionary advantage for infected individuals. For this purpose, we present a set of reaction-diffusion equations as a mathematical model of viral liver infections, which allows chronic and acute courses of the liver infection. We introduce a cumulative wealth function, and finally, we show that an immune response favoring the chronification is evolutionary advantageous at the same time.