Within‐host and synaptic transmissions: contributions to the spread of HIV infection

We study the contributions of within‐host (virus‐to‐cell) and synaptic (cell‐to‐cell) transmissions in a mathematical model for human immunodeficiency virus epidemics. The model also includes drug resistance. We prove the local and global stability of the disease‐free equilibrium and the local stability of the endemic equilibrium. We analyse the effect of the cell‐to‐cell transmission rate on the value of the reproduction number, R 0 . Moreover, we show evidence of a qualitative change in the models' dynamics, subjected to the value of the drug efficacy. In the end, important inferences are drawn. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.