Impact of Variability in Stochastic Models of Bacteria-Phage Dynamics Applicable to Phage Therapy

Sukhitha W. Vidurupola, Linda J.S. Allen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Phages are viruses that kill bacteria and are used to treat bacterial infections. We review the biology of phage, discuss models of phage, then formulate new stochastic models with the goal of studying the impact of variability on phage therapy. Two new stochastic models are derived based on an underlying ordinary differential equation model. A continuous-time Markov chain model and a stochastic differential equation model account for variability due to adsorption, reproduction and release of phage particles. A branching process approximation yields an estimate for the probability of phage extinction. Numerical examples highlight the importance of variability in modeling phage.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)427-449
Number of pages23
JournalStochastic Analysis and Applications
Volume32
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2014

Keywords

  • Bacteriophage
  • Branching process
  • Lytic cycle
  • Stochastic differential equation

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