sparganosis

Infection with the plerocercoid or sparganum of a pseudophyllidean tapeworm, usually in a dermal sore resulting from application of infected flesh as a poultice; infection may also occur from ingestion of uncooked frog, snake, mammal, or bird intermediate or transport host bearing the spargana, but not from fish with Diphyllobothrium larvae, since s. is an infection with nonhuman pseudophyllidean tapeworms, usually species of Spirometra. S. may also develop from ingestion of water containing procercoid-infected Cyclops.

- ocular s. infestation of the orbits with the sparganum of Spirometra mansoni; characterized by redness and edema of the eyelids, lacrimation, and blepharoptosis; acquired by application of infected raw frog flesh against the eye as a poultice.

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spar·ga·no·sis .spär-gə-'nō-səs n, pl -no·ses -.sēz the condition of being infected with spargana

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n.

a disease caused by the migration of certain tapeworm larvae (see sparganum) in the tissues beneath the skin, between the muscles, and occasionally in the viscera and brain. The larvae, which normally develop in frogs and reptiles, are accidentally transferred to humans by eating the uncooked flesh of these animals or by drinking water contaminated with minute crustaceans infected with the tapeworm larvae. The larvae cause inflammation, swelling, and fibrosis of the tissues. Treatment of the condition, common in the Far East, involves intravenous injections of neosalvarsan and surgical removal of the larvae.

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spar·ga·no·sis (spahr″gə-noґsis) infection with migrating spargana (tapeworm larvae of the genera Diphyllobothrium and Spirometra), which invade the subcutaneous tissues, causing inflammation and fibrosis that resembles cellulitis.