Fig 1. Illustration of model dynamics.

A) Untreated infection. B) Classical treatment with: A_m = 6, τ₁ = 3.5, τ₂ = 7. C) Adaptive treatment with parameters Ω = 10⁶, A_m = 6. Other parameters as in Table 1. The resulting duration of adaptive treatment is 2.7 days. From the coupling to pathogen load, the effective rate of antibiotic uptake in adaptive treatment within such interval is 0.44, which implies a reduction in the effective dose from the prescribed A_m = 6 to about 3, sufficient to restrict growth of the drug-sensitive sub-population. The treatment onset τ₁ = 3.5 days corresponds to Ω = 10⁶ (adaptive regime), where Ω > k.