Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

History of Morgellons disease: the same name for different psychodermatologic diseases?

  • main topic
  • Published:
Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

“Morgellons disease” has been a controversial topic in the history of psychodermatology. The most consensual scientific opinion is that it is a primary psychiatric disorder, particularly, a delusional disorder, although others were also pointed out. Some authors have suggested that it may correspond to a common dermatosis with secondary psychopathology. The Morgellons Research Foundation has advocated that it is “an emerging infectious” entity. This paper intends to critically review the main ideas and controversies, since its first description.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Breathnach CS. Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682). J R Soc Med. 2005;98(1):33–6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Hughes JT. The medical education of Sir Thomas Browne, a seventeenth-century student at Montpellier, Padua, and Leiden. J Med Biogr. 2001;9(2):70–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Kellett CE. Sir Thomas Browne and the disease called the Morgellons. Ann Med Hist. 1935;7:467–79.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Accordino RE, Engler D, Ginsburg IH, Koo J. Morgellons disease? Dermatol Ther. 2008;21(1):8–12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Le Clerc D. A Natural and Medicinal History of Worms. London: Wilcox; 1721.

  6. King DF, King LA, Rabson SM. Demodex folliculorum of Simon. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1983;8(6):907–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Emslie-Smith AH. Myiasis, fillan, and the morgellons. Br Med J. 1946;22(1):962.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Lustig A, Mackay S, Strauss J. Morgellons disease as internet meme. Psychosomatics. 2009;50(1):90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Harth W, Hermes B, Freudenmann RW. Morgellons in dermatology. J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2010;8(4):234–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Ranka N, Godse K, Nadkarni N, Patil S, Agarwal S. Morgellons disease: a myth or reality? Indian Dermatol Online J. 2016;7(5):430–2.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Robles DT, Romm S, Combs H, Olson J, Kirby P. Delusional disorders in dermatology: a brief review. Dermatol Online J. 2008;14(6):2.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Marris E. Mysterious ‘Morgellons disease’ prompts US investigation. Nat Med. 2006;12(9):982.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. França K, Chacon A, Ledon J, Savas J, Nouri K. Pyschodermatology: a trip through history. An Bras Dermatol. 2013;88(5):842–3.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Reichenberg JS, Magid M, Jesser CA, Hall CS. Patients labeled with delusions of parasitosis compose a heterogenous group: a retrospective study from a referral center. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2013;68(1):41–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Roncati L, Gatti AM, Pusiol T, Piscioli F, Barbolini G, Maiorana A. The first investigative science-based evidence of Morgellons psychogenesis. Ultrastruct Pathol. 2016;40(5):249–53.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fifth edition. Arlington: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Freudenmann RW, Lepping P. Delusional infestation. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2009;22(4):690–732.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Vulink NC. Delusional Infestation: State of the Art. Acta Derm Venereol. 2016;96(217):58–63.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dermatology Department, Coimbra Hospital and University Centre, Coimbra, Portugal

    Bárbara Roque Ferreira & José Carlos Cardoso

  2. University B.I.S. Group of Institutions, Punjab Technical University, Punjab, India

    Maria Grazia Roccia

  3. Centro Studi per la Ricerca Multidisciplinare e Rigenerativa, Università Degli Studi “G. Marconi”, Rome, Italy

    Katlein França MD, MSc, PhD & Torello Lotti

  4. Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1600 NW 10th Ave, 1140, 33136, Miami, FL, USA

    Katlein França MD, MSc, PhD

  5. Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Academic Teaching Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Dresden, Germany

    Uwe Wollina

  6. Department of Nuclear Physics, Subnuclear and Radiation, Università Degli Studi “G. Marconi”, Rome, Italy

    Massimo Fioranelli

Authors
  1. Bárbara Roque Ferreira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maria Grazia Roccia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. José Carlos Cardoso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Katlein França MD, MSc, PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Uwe Wollina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Torello Lotti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Massimo Fioranelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katlein França MD, MSc, PhD.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

B.R. Ferreira, M.G. Roccia, J.C. Cardoso, K. França, U. Wollina, T. Lotti, and M. Fioranelli declare that they have no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ferreira, B.R., Roccia, M.G., Cardoso, J.C. et al. History of Morgellons disease: the same name for different psychodermatologic diseases?. Wien Med Wochenschr 167 (Suppl 1), 49–51 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-017-0552-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-017-0552-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation