Syphilis Archives - Morgellons Survey

The Stain That Would Settle It

Updated October 10, 2026 · Originally published September 10, 2026 by Jeremy Murphree

Reactive perforating collagenosis and Morgellons comparison showing a mapped RPC tissue route beside an unmapped Morgellons route

Research criticism · Dermatopathology · Morgellons

Reactive Perforating Collagenosis and Morgellons share plug and collagen observations but diverge on anatomy and symptoms. An intact, elastic-stained lesion could distinguish their tissue routes.

Acquired perforating dermatosis Morgellons fibers Tissue architecture

In reactive perforating collagenosis, damaged collagen can be pushed out through skin—and a pathologist can see that route under the microscope. Some Morgellons lesions are described as cratered or plug-centered. Middelveen has sectioned attached callus material and reported follicular casts and comedo-like masses. Those observations justify testing whether some lesions fit the RPC or acquired perforating dermatosis pattern. They do not already establish that diagnosis.

When Syphilis Triggers a Positive Lyme Screen: How Two-Tier Testing Helps Prevent a Lyme Misdiagnosis

August 21, 2026 by Jeremy Murphree

Two-tier Lyme testing filtering syphilis cross-reactivity

Two-tier Lyme testing begins with a crucial distinction: a positive Lyme screening test is not, by itself, a positive Lyme test. That distinction matters when syphilis is in the differential, because antibodies produced against Treponema pallidum can react with antigens used in some Lyme disease screening assays. Treating the screen as a diagnosis can lead a clinician to label a patient with syphilis as having Lyme disease.

Lyme Has Warriors. Syphilis Has Silence.

July 25, 2026 by Jeremy Murphree

Split-panel illustration contrasting a sunny Lyme disease support community with an isolated person in the rain representing syphilis stigma and silence.

Lyme disease and syphilis occupy very different public worlds. With Lyme disease, a patient can enter an entire network of advocacy organizations, support groups, podcasts, documentaries, physician directories, disease-specific news outlets, awareness campaigns and fundraising galas. Global Lyme Alliance operates peer-support programs and holds a major annual gala, while LymeDisease.org maintains support groups, patient resources, physician information, research programs and multiple news and commentary publications. The Lyme community may be divided and controversial, but it is visible.^[1]^[2]

Lyme Has a Chaotic Relative: What Everyone Should Know About Syphilis

Updated July 1, 2026 · Originally published January 3, 2026 by Jeremy Murphree

Fantasy image of a wizard battling a monstrous parasite-like worm with magical energy

If you saw the wizard-in-a-death-spiral image on this page, you already understand the vibe: a pathogen that doesn’t just “show up,” get labeled, and politely exit. If Lyme disease is the spirochete people argue about at the dinner table, syphilis is the older relative nobody wants to mention—the one with a longer memory, a wider reach, and a talent for going quiet just long enough to be missed.

And “missed” is the operative word.

New Morgellons Case-Report Leaves More Questions Than Answers

Updated March 4, 2023 · Originally published May 24, 2022 by Jeremy Murphree

New Morgellons case-report. In this report a 45-year-old man presented to the emergency room after overdosing on Benadryl. The man was complaining about burning, and little barbs that appeared in his skin as worms or cocoons which he could express (expel). The physician thought the man may have Morgellons and referred him to psychiatry. Psychiatry …