Mathematical Analysis of a model for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Codynamics with Optimal Control

Abstract A model for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Gonorrhea codynamics, with optimal control analysis is studied and analyzed to assess the impact of targetted treatment for each of the diseases on their co-infections in a population. The model exhibits the dynamical feature of backward bifurcation when the associated reproduction number is less than unity. The global asymptotic stability of the disease-free equilibrium of the co-infection model is also proven not to exist, when the associated reproduction number is below unity. The necessary conditions for the existence of optimal control and the optimality system for the co-infection model is established using the Pontryagin's Maximum Principle. Simulations of the optimal control model reveal that the intervention strategy which implements female Chlamydia trachomatis treatment and male gonorrhea treatment is the most effective in combating the co-infections of Chlamydia trachomatis and gonorrhea.