The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is launching a study, in conjunction with Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Division of Research, to investigate whether multiple reports of a strange skin disease, that some call Morgellons, are true. ABC News is planning to run a story tonight on “Nightline” (11:35 ET), and has released the following statement about its upcoming program:
People with the condition, referred to as Morgellons disease, say they have fibers and other inorganic material growing out of their skin.
“We earnestly want to learn more about this unexplained illness which impacts the lives of those who suffer from it,” said Dr. Michele Pearson, principal investigator leading the study for CDC, in a press release. “Those who suffer have questions, and we want to help them.”
“We have a team of epidemiologists, laboratorians and pathologists to carry out the study,” Pearson said…
In 2006, a number of Morgellons sufferers told ABC News in interviews that when they consulted doctors, they received diagnoses that they called wrong or dismissive. Brandi Koch, the wife of former Major League Baseball player Billy Koch, said that she felt as if she was living in a horror movie, claiming she had colored fibers coming out of her skin.
Koch, of Clearwater Beach, Fla., said that her life was good until one day in the shower when she noticed something strange — tiny fibers running through her skin.
“The fibers look like hair, and they’re different colors,” Koch said.
Koch said she knows that what she experienced “sounds crazy,” but it’s true. “If I had a family member call me up and say, ‘I have this stuff,’ I’d say, ‘I’m sending a straitjacket over. You need some help,'” she said.
From the CDC statement:
The investigation may take 12 months or longer to complete. Initially investigators will identify and recruit participants and collect detailed information on participants’ symptoms and potential factors that may contribute to the condition. Later eligible participants will undergo detailed clinical evaluations, including a general medical examination, dermatologic examination, mental health examination, skin biopsies, and multiple blood tests.
Press release: CDC To Launch Study on Unexplained Illness
CDC: Unexplained Dermopathy (aka “Morgellons”) …
The Morgellons Research Foundation (MRF) …
Images @ Morgellons Research Foundation…
Lots of fuzzy images at MorgellonsUSA.com …
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