Dynamics of a malaria infection model with time delay

In this paper, a new mathematical model (a system of delay differential equation) is proposed to describe dynamical behaviors of malaria in an infected host with red blood cells (RBCs), infected red blood cells (iRBCs) and immune factors. The basic reproduction number R0 of the malaria infection is derived. If R₀≤1, the uninfected equilibrium E₀ is globally asymptotically stable. If R₀>1, there exists two kinds of infection equilibria. The conditions of these equilibria with respect to the existence, stability and uniform persistence are given. Furthermore, fluctuations occur when the model undergoes Hopf bifurcation, and periodic solution appears near the positive equilibrium. The direction and stability of Hopf bifurcation are also obtained by applying the center manifold method and the normal form theory. Numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the theoretical results.