A variational principle for modeling infection immunity by the example of pneumonia

The paper deals with investigation of general principles which regulate infection immunity depending on environmental factors. An approach is considered basing on the assumption that a relationship exists between the organism's fitness and energy expenditures on various functions. By the example of the mathematical model of pneumonia a quantitative energy cost estimates of the main processes of disease and of the health maintenance are compared. The problem of determining the values of model parameters is formulated using the minimality criterion of infection immunity energy expenditures. Particular case of the problem is considered for which dependence of optimal defense regimens from infection rate and microorganism's properties is studied.