Journal of molecular medicine : official organ of the "Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte"
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The high prevalence of tuberculosis in developing countries and the recent resurgence of tuberculosis in many developed countries suggests that current control strategies are suboptimal. The increase in drug-resistant cases exacerbates the control problems. ⋯ We describe and discuss a theoretical framework based upon mathematical transmission models that can be used for understanding, predicting, and controlling tuberculosis epidemics. We illustrate how the theoretical framework can be used to predict the temporal dynamics of the emergence of drug resistance, to predict the epidemiological consequences of epidemic control strategies in developing and developed countries, and to design epidemic control strategies.