Help Save a Patient's Life: Calculating Infected Cells

[Persefone]

A patient caught an influenza for example and the virus is killing him.
In his blood, there are fights against the virus and let say, one infected cell can infect also other neighboring cells. Do you know what and how can I set up a rule to calculate the numbers of healthy cells after 't time' observing the test blood through a microscope ? Please help me quick quickly please, I am so sleepy...I need to see some answers before I can go to bed and sleep tight...
Thanks,
--persefone

 

[Mental Gridlock]

Do a count in a blood test, then a certain measure of time later do another count with a fresh blood test and figure out how many more cells are infected to determine a rate of change then you can graph it and determine how long the patient has until too many cells are destroyed and he's done. Time would be the x axis.

 

[Moonbear]

Persefone, if you're asking homework questions here, you have to show us what your thoughts are about the answer first, then we can prompt you toward finding the correct answer yourself. We can't just do your homework for you, it's against board policy and won't help you learn.

 

[Persefone]

That question is not mine, I stole from the internet I forgot the address to give you already.
Next time on I promise I will copy even the address so say, speak by the book, for you all to believe me.
But as far as I know, I think it is impossible to count by eyes how many cells died and how many cells left just by a microscope, don't you agree ? I just thought there would be some mathematical formula for me to calculate it better or maybe a rule set up by some famous people in cell biology to give immediate results if the variables for that formula were known...well, just something like that. Do you know of anything related as hints, perhaps ?

 

[quetzalcoatl9]

What you would be looking for would be a variation of the Logistic Equation, a first-order differential equation.

The exact form of the equation will depend upon the initial dose, virulence, state of immunity, etc. Look in a virology book and you will find the equations/graphs that you seek.

There are a number of ways for experimentally determining these things. People will count cells under a microscope, and stain them to see viral particles. Also, a cell culture's growth will come to a halt when treated with a virus, and this can be measured by doing a protein assay, for example.

A good book on biochemical virology is what you seek, me thinks.