The dynamics of an age-structured TB transmission model with relapse

This paper deals with the global dynamics for a tuberculosis transmission model with age-structure and relapse. The time delay in the progression from the latent individuals to becoming the infectious individuals is also considered in our model. We perform some rigorous analyses for the model, including presenting an explicit formula for the basic reproduction number of the model, addressing the persistence of the solution semiflow and the existence of a global attractor. Based on these analyses, we establish some results about stability and instability of the solutions for our model. At end, the model is applied to describe tuberculosis transmission in China. The number of the total population and the number of the annual newly reported TB cases both match the statistical data well. The number of the total population, the latent individuals, the infectious individuals, the Purified Protein Derivative (PPD) positive rate, and the prevalence rate from 2020 to 2035 all are presented.