Immune-system models
Immune-system models represent interactions among pathogens, infected cells and immune components such as antibodies or effector cells.
Simple interaction model
If \(P\) is pathogen abundance and \(E\) an immune effector population, a schematic system is
\[\frac{dP}{dt}=rP-kEP,\]\[\frac{dE}{dt}=s(P)-\delta E.\]The first equation combines pathogen growth with immune-mediated removal. The second represents immune stimulation and loss.
Model complexity
Detailed models can distinguish innate and adaptive responses, multiple immune-cell populations, cytokines and memory responses.
Key idea. Immune models focus on feedback between a biological challenge and the host response generated against it.