Dynamics of an HIV latent infection model with age structures and multiple infection modes

In order to study the influence of different infection modes on HIV infection, an age-structured model incorporating cell-free, cell-to-cell, and cytokine-enhanced viral infection modes is proposed. This model also considers latently infected CD4[Formula: see text] T cells and general incidence rates. The expression of the basic reproduction number [Formula: see text] is derived, which includes the contributions from all three infection modes. [Formula: see text] serves as the parameter of a threshold dynamics. The threshold dynamics is established by employing the Fluctuation Lemma and the approach of Lyapunov functionals after showing the asymptotic smoothness and uniform persistence of the solution semiflow. Numerical simulations are provided to discuss the effects of the three infection modes on the viral load.