A fractional-order model of HIV infection: Numerical solution and comparisons with data of patients

Abstract

In this paper, a fractional-order model which describes the human immunodeficiency type-1 virus (HIV-1) infection is presented. Numerical solutions are obtained using a generalized Euler method (GEM) to handle the fractional derivatives. The fractional derivatives are described in the Caputo sense. We show that the model established in this paper possesses non-negative solutions. Comparisons between the results of the fractional-order model, the results of the integer model and the measured real data obtained from 10 patients during primary HIV-1 infection are presented. These comparisons show that the results of the fractional-order model give predictions to the plasma virus load of the patients better than those of the integer model.