Transmission of Tuberculosis with Exogenous Re-infection and Endogenous Reactivation

A theoretical framework to assess the transmission dynamics of Tuberculosis (TB) is developed. Once infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, individuals can either develop active TB or remain infected for the rest of their life unless endogenous reactivation or exogenous re-infection occurs. The effects of vaccination and treatment of active TB cases suggest that even if these control strategies could have a significant effect on reducing TB incidence, the exogenous re-infection and the endogenous reactivation, mainly due to HIV infection, will still increase the incidence of TB.