sparganosis /spär′gənō″sis/ [Gk, sparganon, swaddling clothes, osis, condition] , an infection with larvae of the fish tapeworm of the pseudogenus Sparganum, recently identified as the plerocercoid stage of Diphyllobothrium. It is characterized by painful subcutaneous swellings or swelling and destruction of the eye. It is acquired by ingesting larvae in contaminated water or in inadequately cooked infected frog flesh. Treatment includes surgery and local injection of ethyl alcohol to kill the larvae.