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Issue Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys.
Volume 47, Number 3, September 2009
Article Number 31401
Number of page(s) 6
Section Biophysics and Biosensors
DOI 10.1051/epjap/2009098
Published online 12 June 2009

Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 47, 31401 (2009)
DOI: 10.1051/epjap/2009098

Viral mutation and its influence in the time evolution of the immunizations

A. de Castro1, 2 and D. Alves3, 2

1  Embrapa Informática Agropecuária, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, EMBRAPA, Caixa Postal 6041, 13083-886 Campinas, Brazil
2  Departamento de Informática em Saúde, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, UNIFESP, Brazil
3  Departamento de Medicina Social, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, USP, Brazil

acastro@cnptia.embrapa.br

Received: 24 September 2008 / Received in final form: 10 February 2009 / Accepted: 27 March 2009 / Published online: 12 June 2009

Abstract
In this paper, we study the behavior of immune memory against antigenic mutation. Using a dynamic model proposed by one of the authors in a previous study (A. de Castro [Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 33, 147 (2006) and Simul. Mod. Pract. Theory. 15, 831 (2007)]), we have performed simulations of several inoculations, where in each virtual sample the viral population undergoes mutations. Our results suggest that the sustainability of the immunizations is dependent on viral variability and that the memory lifetimes are not random, what contradicts what was suggested by Tarlinton et al. [Curr. Opin. Immunol. 20, 162 (2008)]. We show that what may cause an apparent random behavior of the immune memory is the antigenic variability.

PACS
05.45.Ra - Coupled map lattices.
87.10.-e - General theory and mathematical aspects.
87.18.Vf - Systems biology.
05.45.-a - Nonlinear dynamics and chaos.

© EDP Sciences 2009


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