An Age-Structured Model for the Transmission Dynamics of Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is endemic in many parts of the world. One of the characteristics of HBV transmission is the age structure of the host population. In this paper, we propose an age-structured model for the transmission dynamics of HBV. The host population is stratified by age and is divided into six subclasses: susceptible, latently infected, acutely infectious, carrier, recovered, and vaccinated individuals. By determining the basic reproduction number, we study the existence and stability of the disease-free and endemic steady state solutions of the model. Numerical simulations are performed to find optimal strategies for controlling the transmission of HBV.