The HIV-HCV co-infection dynamics in absence of therapy

Abstract

HIV-HCV co-infection is whereby an individual is infected with both viruses HIV and HCV. Globally, approximately 4 to 5 million people are co-infected with HIV and HCV. HCV infection significantly causes morbidity and mortality among HIV patients. HCV is known to progress faster and cause more liver-related health problems and death among people who are HIV/AIDS positive than those who are negative. Co-infection with HCV complicates the management of HIV/AIDS. Mathematical modeling generally provides an explicit framework by which we can develop and communicate an understanding of transmission dynamics of an infectious disease. In this article, a deterministic model is used in which ordinary differential equations are formulated and analyzed to study the HIV-HCV co-infection dynamics in absence of therapy. The findings reveal that the basic reproduction number for HIV-HCV co infection dynamics is equal to the maximum of single-disease basic reproduction numbers. This implies that the dynamics of the HIV-HCV co-infection will be dominated by the disease with the bigger basic reproduction number