[Epidemiology of cysticercosis in Chile]

Abstract

Background: Neurocysticercosis is the most prevalent parasitic disease of the central nervous system in Chile, where sporadic cases are reported, without information about the epidemiology or distribution of the disease.

Aim: To identify the main risk zones for cysticercosis in Chile.

Material and methods: Analysis of hospital discharge databases between 2002 and 2019, available at the website of the Chilean Ministry of Health. Cases with B69 code of the tenth international classification of diseases were identified.

Results: In the study period, there were 1752 discharges with the diagnoses of neurocysticercosis, ocular cysticercosis and cysticercosis of other sites. The ages of patients ranged from 0 to 89 years with a clustering between 30 and 59 years. Sixty two percent were males. The zone between the regions of Maule and Araucania concentrated 82% of cases.

Conclusions: We identified the zone with the greatest concentration of cysticercosis in Chile, where preventive strategies should eventually be directed.