HYDATIDS IN AUSTRALIA - PRESENT POSITION IN MAN

SUMMARY: In the mainland States the numbers at risk are small relative to the whole population — even the whole rural population — and studies are needed of regional incidence based on the patient's address at the time of admission. Traditionally the States most affected have been Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. The disease seems to have shown a spontaneous decline in Victoria, and has been reduced by a control program in Tasmania, but in New South Wales there is still an unacceptably high incidence amongst Australian‐born residents of the Northern, Central and Southern Tablelands and Canberra District. The prevalence in the South‐Eastern Statistical Division and the Australian Capital Territory in fact matches that of Tasmania in 1941–50. An unexpected and important effect of the Tasmanian control program was a simultaneous and substantial drop in incidence in all age‐groups. This means control measures elsewhere can be justified by the expectation of early benefit to the whole rural community, including even the elderly. Copyright © 1979, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved