[Human hydatidosis: general aspects and epidemiological situation in Chile according to hospital discharge and mandatory reporting from 2001 to 2005].

Human hydatidosis in Chile is described using as a source of information the Disease Notification Systems and hospital discharges between 2001 and 2005. To assess the extent of human infection we calculated incidence rates and hospital discharges during this period by geographical region. Incidence rate for the period was 2.2 per 100,000 inhabitants with higher rates in the regions of Coquimbo, La Araucania and Magallanes. The hospital discharge rate for the period was 6 per 100.000 inhabitants, being the most affected regions: La Araucania, Aysén and Magallanes. 58.8% of cases reported are from Echinococcus granulosus, while 43.6% were registered as unspecified echinococcosis. The notification system provides a real estimate of the magnitude of this disease, reporting cases with diagnostic confirmation. The rates obtained from the discharge system overestimate the magnitude of this disease. The improvement of the notification system and seroprevalence studies are recommended.