Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is known to increase the probability of developing tuberculosis (TB) and accelerating its progression. During the last 20 years, as a result of the rise in the number of HIV infections, the number of TB cases has more than tripled in eastern and southern Africa. This motivated the authors to study TB control strategies that are effective in settings where HIV is prevalent.

The authors develop a stochastic simulation model to conduct their study. Their model represents the following: the effects of HIV on an individual’s risk of infection, disease progression, infectious period, and infectivity; the effect of household structure on transmission of TB infection; and the progression through both TB and HIV diseases.

This is a verbosely written application paper. The validation of the simulation model is conducted in a way that is not convincing enough to substantiate sufficient credibility of the simulation results. However, the paper is still useful for those professionals who deal with modeling and simulation of infectious diseases.