A first passage time study of bacterial eradication under the influence of antibacterial agents

Studies concerning bacterial eradication have become important in the light of growing antibiotic resistance observed around the world. Hence, it is important to develop and optimize new strategies and discover alternatives for treatment against drug resistant bacteria. Considering this, we apply the method of first passage time (FPT) to theoretically scrutinize the bacterial population dynamics in the presence of antibacterial agents. First, we demonstrate that the extinction time for bacterial population in the presence of antibiotics can be lowered by reducing the growth rate of bacteria. Next, we examine the antibacterial role of silver nano-particles (AgNPs) against the pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli. We find that in comparison to antibiotics, the same concentration of AgNPs require more time for complete clearance of the bacterial population. Therefore, in order to reduce this extinction time, we investigate the combined effect of AgNP and Ampicillin. Our results suggest that AgNP combined with Ampicillin can be a substitute in tackling resistance against E. coli.