 |
Figure 33-10. Sparganosis.
Spirometra species due to a
poultice
made from a frog. (Courtesy
of the Fitzsimons Army Medical
Center
teaching files.) |
Sparganosis is an infection produced by various
species of the tapeworm
Spirometra, which is
seen most commonly in Asia and Southeast Asia.
Sparganosis is typically acquired by drinking
water containing infected copepods or the
ingestion of inadequately cooked snake or frog
meat. Clinically, it presents as pruritic or painful
nodules that contain the encysted tapeworm.
“Application sparganosis” occurs when an eye
or ulcer is contaminated by a poultice made
from these same animals and is characterized
by similar nodules at the site of inoculation
(Fig. 33-10). Sparganosis is best treated by
surgical removal of the tapeworm.
Kimura S, Kashima M, Kawa Y, et al: A case of subcutaneous
sparganosis: therapeutic assessment by an indirect immunofluorescence
antibody titration using sections of
the worm body obtained from the patient,
Br J Dermatol
148:369–371, 2003.
