Approximate solution of a model of biological immune responses incorporating delay

A model of the humoral immune response, proposed by Dibrov, Livshits and Volkenstein (1977b), in which the antibody production by a constant target cell population depends on the antigenic stimulation at earlier times, is considered from an analytic standpoint. A method of approximation based on a consideration of the asymptotic limit of "large" delay in the antibody response is shown to be applicable, and to give results similar to those obtained numerically by the above authors. The relevance of this type of approximation to other systems exhibiting "outbreak" phenomena is discussed.