Morgellons - Not Delusional Parasitosis

Delusional Parasitosis is a psychological condition that gives a person the sensation of having their skin “crawling with bugs,” which is also called formication. Although mostly found in psychiatric patients, some organic causes are said to cause formication. Among them are allergies, diabetic neuropathy, menopause, skin cancer, or herpes zoster. The sensation of crawling skin is also a common side-effect of many prescription drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall and Lunesta.

Other causes of formication are withdrawal from certain street drugs, such as Cocaine or Heroin as well as alcohol.

Persons affected with delusional parasitosis are prone to pick at the imaginary bugs, causing lesions to form on their skin. Once this occurs, they pick at the scab. They are convinced that a parasite is living within them. There have been some cases where people have commit suicide over this notion, as well as cases where people maimed themselves trying to rid themselves of “bugs.”

In addition to the above causes of delusional parasitosis resulting in formication, other causes can be linked to the abuse of certain illicit drugs.

But what happens when the person suffering from this condition is a two year old boy? Or an infant? And they have healthy immune systems and none of the above-mentioned pathology?

In Southern California, there has been an outbreak of persons suffering what was diagnosed as delusional parasitosis; but now science is not so sure that’s all it is.

Like many infectious diseases, this one started out small. Biologist and mother, Mary Leitao, discovered sores on her son’s bottom lip. He was only two years old and could only say a few words, but one of them was “bugs.” After taking the child to several doctors and finding no relief, Leitao examined the fibers that appeared to be produced by the lesions and found that they resembled nothing like she had ever seen.

While some doctors dismissed her curtly as being a psychological case herself, Leitao relentlessly pursued the medical field to try to find some answers. She formed a foundation for the disease and got a web site. Soon she became inundated with calls from other people who suffered from the same syndrome as her son. Although the foundation received very little money by way of donations and no grants, she managed to attract some attention to her cause and get some doctors and other medical professionals to take her seriously.

The disease Mary Leitao discovered is called Morgellons disease. It mirrors other diseases, such as Lyme Disease and Scabies in that it produces lesions on the skin. The lesions produce what appear to be fibers; although the medical field has no answers as to what these fibers contain.

As was the case with AIDS in the early 1980s, it took years before the Center for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the matter. By this time, 1,200 people suffering from Morgellons were in the data bank. The study performed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention was inconclusive as to the causes of this syndrome. Unlike AIDs, Morgellons does not appear to be fatal. Yet.

Not all of medical science is skeptical, however. But even among advocates for the disease, there is dissention. While some theorize that the disease is bacterial, others have found the fibers to be consistent with fungal infections. Still others feel that the disease is caused by pollutants or pesticides. It is interesting to note that while all 50 states have someone with Morgellons, most of the cases are in Southern California, Texas and Florida.

To date, there have been no studies of Morgellons disease by anyone outside the foundation. Skeptics insist that the disease is primarily psychological and that the collecting of fibers is part of the psychosis. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is currently investigating the etiology of the disease and hopes to have an answer in November, 2007.

Although no treatment exists, the disease has been known to go into spontaneous remission and is often relieved with antibiotics used to treat Lyme disease. For more information, contact the Morgellons website.