Epidemiological Data

Data sources

The primary source of data on hydatid disease in England and Wales is laboratory reporting of serologically confirmed infections to the Health Protection Agency, Centre for Infections (HPA, CfI) and its predecessor, the Public Health Laboratory Service, Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (PHLS, CDSC).

Other sources of data include occasional surveys which may be undertaken for short or specified periods of time. Data used in such surveys may in addition to records of serologically confirmed infections, include cases identified by histopathology and hospital admission data. It is not always possible to link cases identified in surveys with those reported under national serological surveillance.

Not all reported cases will have been acquired in the United Kingdom, however, the proportion of infections acquired abroad is unknown.

Annual data from 1990