Introduction:

Hydatidosis is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a neglected infectious disease (NID). It is part of a group of persistent conditions associated with living conditions that require an integrated approach, involving multisectoral actions and cost-effective interventions for control and elimination.

Objective:

As part of a broader objective aimed at analyzing knowledge, medical practices, and institutional frameworks related to pediatric hydatidosis, this study focuses on identifying medical practices and how they are recorded in the medical records of patients diagnosed with the disease.

Methodology:

Content analysis of medical records from the "Eva Perón" Provincial Child Health Center (Santiago del Estero, Argentina) covering the period 2009-2020.

Results:

The medical records reveal significant gaps in socio-epidemiological information, particularly regarding family living conditions, case follow-up, and communication both among healthcare services and with users. There is also limited documentation of inter-institutional and interdisciplinary relationships, along with a high number of cases lacking hydatidosis investigation forms or containing incomplete ones.

Discussion:

Despite the well-known complexity of the health-disease process linked to hydatidosis-closely related to precarious social and living conditions-the lack of significant epidemiological data limits the ability to develop an adequate institutional response.

Conclusions:

Our findings contribute to an epidemiological characterization of hydatidosis in the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, while also highlighting the value of medical records as documentary sources for analyzing healthcare practices and the management of this neglected disease. At the same time, they underscore the insufficient documentation of the social conditions surrounding these cases.