Abstract
This article formulates and analyzes a discrete-time Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) coinfection model with latent reservoirs. We consider that the HTLV-I infect the CD4(+)T cells, while HIV-1 has two classes of target cells-CD4(+)T cells and macrophages. The discrete-time model is obtained by discretizing the original continuous-time by the non-standard finite difference (NSFD) approach. We establish that NSFD maintains the positivity and boundedness of the model's solutions. We derived four threshold parameters that determine the existence and stability of the four equilibria of the model. The Lyapunov method is used to examine the global stability of all equilibria. The analytical findings are supported via numerical simulation. The impact of latent reservoirs on the HIV-1 and HTLV-I co-dynamics is discussed. We show that incorporating the latent reservoirs into the HIV-1 and HTLV-I coinfection model will reduce the basic HIV-1 single-infection and HTLV-I single-infection reproductive numbers. We establish that neglecting the latent reservoirs will lead to overestimation of the required HIV-1 antiviral drugs. Moreover, we show that lengthening of the latent phase can suppress the progression of viral coinfection. This may draw the attention of scientists and pharmaceutical companies to create new treatments that prolong the latency period.