Spread of parasites affecting death and division rates in a cell population

TL;DR

This paper models parasite infection dynamics in a cell population using a branching Markov process where parasite quantities evolve with diffusion and jumps, affecting cell division and death rates, and studies the long-term infection behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive stochastic model combining parasite evolution with cell division and death, analyzing long-term infection dynamics.

Findings

Model captures complex parasite-cell interactions.

Provides insights into infection persistence or extinction.

Framework applicable to various parasite-host systems.

Abstract

We introduce a general class of branching Markov processes for the modelling of a parasite infection in a cell population. Each cell contains a quantity of parasites which evolves as a diffusion with positive jumps. The drift, diffusive function and positive jump rate of this quantity of parasites depend on its current value. The division rate of the cells also depends on the quantity of parasites they contain. At division, a cell gives birth to two daughter cells and shares its parasites between them. Cells may also die, at a rate which may depend on the quantity of parasites they contain. We study the long-time behaviour of the parasite infection.