| Abstract: |
| The basic mathematical model of hepatitis C virus infection was originally formulated in 1998. This basic model is unable to explain all the observed HCV RNA profiles under treatment e.g., a triphasic viral decay and a viral rebound to baseline values after the cessation of therapy. Though the extension of the basic model by including hepatocyte proliferation was constructed and became a more realistic model without any of these deficiencies, the dynamical analysis of its original form has not been considered. In this research work, a dynamical analysis for this model is treated. The basic reproduction number is obtained, and the equilibrium points are specified. The stability at the equilibrium points is analyzed based on Routh-Hurwitz criteria and Lyapunov invariance principle method. The results indicate that the uninfected equilibrium point is locally as well as globally asymptotically stable when the reproduction number is less than one. The infected equilibrium point of the model is locally and globally asymptotically stable when the basic reproduction number is greater than one. Numerical sensitivity analysis based on model parameters is performed and the result describes the influence of each parameter on the basic reproduction number. |
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