Hidatidosis humana: antecedentes generales y situación epidemiológica en Chile, 2001-2009

objective: to characterize the epidemiology of human hydatidosis in chile. material: data from the mandatory disease notification system (2001-2009), hospital discharges (2001-2008), deaths (2001-2008) and years of potential life lost (2001-2008) were analyzed. results: the average incidence, according to the mandatory notification data, was 1.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (men 51.4%). median age was 38 years. hospital discharge rate for the period was 6.3 discharges per 100,000 inhabitants. the main diagnosis corresponded to b67.9 (echino-coccosis, other and unspecified). the average mortality rate was 0.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. the level of education of fatalities was mainly basic. there was a loss of 3.349 years of life due to the premature death of 235 people. conclusions: the incidence rates of cases reported, hospital discharges and mortality tend to decrease. there is a noteworthy discrepancy between reported cases and hospital discharges, which suggests underreporting. improvement of the notification system and additional prevalence studies are required.