On the role of variable latent periods in mathematical models for tuberculosis (Q5935825)

The authors discuss the qualitative properties of differential equations and differential-integral equations describing the dynamics of disease transmission for tuberculosis. They introduce two mathematical models for the analysis of this problem. The first model assumes that the duration of the latent stage of disease is exponentially distributed and it is governed by a system of three ordinary nonlinear differential equations. If the latent stage is supposed to be arbitrarily distributed, then the dynamics is given by a system of differential-integral equations. The authors' investigations show that both models admit similar qualitative properties depending on a reproductive number. If the reproductive number is less than or equal to the critical value one, then all solutions converge to the origin (the disease free equilibrium). If the reproductive number exceeds one, then the disease free equilibrium is unstable and there exists a unique positive equilibrium which is stable.