A mathematical model to evaluate the role of memory B and T cells in heterologous secondary dengue infection.

ABSTRACT

We propose a mathematical model to investigate the antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) phenomenon during secondary dengue infection. The model consists of an ODE system that describes the interaction of the dengue virus with macrophages and memory B and T cell role during the infection. The qualitative model analysis is done in terms of memory B and T cell cloning parameters and the basic reproduction number R0. In the absence of memory B and T cell cloning, if R0<1 the dengue virus population extinguishes, while for R0>1, it tends asymptotically to a positive equilibrium. However, when we consider the memory B cell cloning, it is possible to occur dengue infection even when R0<1. Memory T cells have an essential role in eliminating the possibility of ADE occurrence when R0<1.