Exploring the association between Morgellons disease and Lyme disease: identification of Borrelia burgdorferi in Morgellons disease patients
Marianne J Middelveen, Cheryl Bandoski, Jennie Burke, Eva Sapi, Katherine R Filush, Yean Wang, Agustin Franco, Peter J Mayne, and Raphael B Stricker
BMC Dermatol. 2015; 15(1): 1.
National LIbrary of Medicine
Published online 2015 Feb 12. doi: 10.1186/s12895-015-0023-0
PMCID: PMC4328066
PMID: 25879673

Background
Morgellons disease (MD) is a complex skin disorder characterized by ulcerating lesions that have protruding or embedded filaments. Many clinicians refer to this condition as delusional parasitosis or delusional infestation and consider the filaments to be introduced textile fibers.

In contrast, recent studies indicate that MD is a true somatic illness associated with tickborne infection, that the filaments are keratin and collagen in composition and that they result from proliferation and activation of keratinocytes and fibroblasts in the skin. Previously, spirochetes have been detected in the dermatological specimens from four MD patients, thus providing evidence of an infectious process.

Conclusions
Our study using multiple detection methods confirms that MD is a true somatic illness associated with Borrelia spirochetes that cause Lyme disease. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal treatment for this spirochete-associated dermopathy.