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Glite Dictionary
sparganosis

sparganosis

1 9.9
A disease from young tapeworms that makes parts of the body swell and hurt
  • noun
  • /spɑrɡəˈnoʊsɪs/
  • Specialized
: esparganosis
  • The patient was diagnosed with sparganosis last week.

Examples

  • The patient developed sparganosis after drinking untreated water in a rural area.

  • Doctors confirmed sparganosis by identifying the tapeworm larvae in tissue samples.

  • Symptoms of sparganosis can include swelling and pain where the larvae migrate.

  • Can you explain what sparganosis is?

  • Sparganosis is a rare disease caused by infection with the larvae of tapeworms from the genus Spirometra.

  • After being diagnosed with sparganosis, the patient received treatment to eliminate the larvae.

  • Doctors explained that sparganosis results from ingesting contaminated water or raw fish.

Surface Forms

sparganosis singular
sparganoses plural

Morphology

sparganosis = sparganum (opaque) = spargan + osis

The suffix '-osis' marks a disease, but the root 'spargan' is an obscure medical combining form referring to a larval tapeworm stage not known to general learners, so the overall meaning cannot be derived by a typical learner.

Etymology

The word sparganosis comes from the Greek sparganon meaning 'swaddling band', because the tapeworm larvae are long and ribbon-like like a band. The ending -osis means 'disease', so sparganosis is the disease caused by those ribbon-like larvae.