Global properties of a discrete viral infection model with general incidence rate

In this paper, we propose a discrete viral infection model with a general incidence rate. The discrete model is derived from a continuous case by using a 'mixed' Euler method, which is a mixture of both forward and backward Euler methods. We prove that the mixed Euler method preserves the qualitative properties of the corresponding continuous system, such as positivity, boundedness, and global behaviors of solutions. Furthermore, the model and mathematical results presented in another previous study are extended and generalized. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.