Morgellons (also called Morgellons disease or Morgellons syndrome) is a name given in 2002 by biologist Mary Leitao to a condition characterized by a range of cutaneous (skin) symptoms including crawling, biting, and stinging sensations; finding fibers on or under the skin; and persistent skin lesions (e.g. rashes or sores). >> read more
The name is a reference to a description of an illness in "A Letter to a Friend" by Sir Thomas Browne, in 1690, wherein he describes several medical conditions in his experience, including "that endemial distemper of children in Languedoc, called the morgellons, wherein they critically break out with harsh hairs on their backs. However, there is no proposed link between these two.
Morgellons disease is a skin disease, characterized by multi-colored fibrous strands emerging from the skin often together with various other dermatologic and/or neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Sufferers of the skin disease often describe feelings similar to bugs or parasites beneath their skin and open wounds that heal slowly and ooze out blue and white fibers, some as thick as spaghetti strands. Attempts to remove the fibers are said to lead to pains radiating out from the site of the wound.
Some of these multi-colored strands of fiber are of microscopic size, while others appear to be fibers and little granules coming out of the skin that can be seen with the naked eye. The fibers range in color: white, blue, black, red and are often regarded by the medical community as common house hold lint.
Morgellons disease resembles and is often confused with delusional parasitosis. The association with Lyme disease and the apparent response to antibacterial therapy suggest that Morgellons disease may be linked to an yet undefined infectious disease. At the current time, there is no agreed-upon physical cause, etiology, diagnostic criteria or proven treatment.
More clinical research is needed to unlock the mystery of the Morgellons disease.
One of the research centers is the Morgellons Research Foundation (MRF).
Already February 2006, more than 2,000 reports of the disease had been reported on the Morgellons Research Foundation's website. Reports came in from all 50 U.S. states and 15 other nations, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands. The majority of reports came in from Texas, California, and Florida.