Das geht unter die HautDer Insektenwahn hat manchmal eine ganz natürliche Erklärung: SpringschwänzeVon Mark Benecke Weitere Legenden-Themen: Spontane Selbstentzündung (SHC) (National Geographic) / Snuff-Filme (Archiv für Kriminologie) / Großstadt-Legenden (Süddeutsche Zeitung) / Vampire & Leichen (National Geographic) / Blutwunder von Neapel (San Gennaro) (Skeptiker/ZDF) / Affenmann von Delhi (Süddeutsche Zeitung) / Magnetische Berge / Schlachtung in gegenseitigem Einvernehmen (Meiwes/Brandes) (Kriminalistik)
Randy Yaskal aus Charlotteville war der festen Überzeugung, von winzigen
Krabbeltieren befallen zu sein. Sechs- oder achtbeinige Lebewesen in seiner
Haut quälten ihn, bis ins Fleisch. Er beschrieb sich selbst so, "als hätte
jemand mit einer Schrotflinte auf mich geschossen". Wenn er sich irgendwo
kratzte, rieselten Schüppchen. Doch kein Mensch, vor allem kein Arzt,
glaubte ihm, dass die Ursache dafür Parasiten sein könnten. Schon vor Jahren
erhielt er die Diagnose: delusiory parasitosis (delusionary
parasitosis) - Insektenwahn. Also alles Einbildung. From: Mark Benecke forensic at benecke dot com Date: 8. September 2005 13:23:25 MESZ To: Berit xxxxxx Subject: Re: "Das geht unter die Haut" Artikel vom 23. September 2004 in "DIE ZEIT" Mit sehr grossem Interesse habe ich Ihren Artikel ueber Insekten im Koerper des Menschen gelesen. weniger IM koerper als AUF dem koerper Ich verstehe dass Sie kein richtiger Arzt sind ich bin gar kein arzt. ich bin biologe. da Sie jedoch ein Experte zu sein scheinen, was den menschlichen Koerper und Insekten betrifft, moechte ich Sie hiermit fragen, was man denn tun koennte, um die Springschwaenze unter der Haut loszuwerden (bei einem lebendigen Menschen). Dazu stand in Ihrem Artikel leider nichts. das habe ich falsch ausgedrueckt. mit "in" der haut meinte ich: "in abschabeungen der haut". "unter der haut" im eigentlichen sinn finden sie sich nie. collembolen koennen unter der haut nicht leben, da sie dort sofort sterben wuerden und auch auf keine weise lebend dorthin gelangen koennen. sehr herzlich mark benecke Vielen Dank und mit freundlichen Gruessen Berit xxxxxxx On 8. Sep 2005, at 13:51, Berit xxxxx wrote: Lieber Dr. Benecke, haben Sie vielen Dank fuer Ihre schnelle und hilfreiche Antwort! Schoenen Gruss Berit sehr gerne! alles gute mark benecke Selected E-mail traffic in this matter: (Oct 9, 2004) dear frans (and dear deborah, dear morgellons.org people) i am happpy to read you. thank you for mailing. frans janssens wrote: 1. I had the opportunity to discuss the case of the Romanian woman with the late Dr Neculai Dulceanu, and we reached following consensus. The so-called eggs seem to be ascomycetes, the so-called larvae seems to be a rotifier (note that collembola do not have a larval stage; the first instar already looks like its adult parents, only it is much smaller), the so-called pupae cannot be from a collembolan (Collembola do not have a pupa stage), yes, the "pupa" thing is indeed a mistake in the reports the one adult specimen that was found in the skin culture after several days was tentatively identified by myself as Willowsia buskii based on the image published at the website (I have not seen the specimen itself), a regular domestic Collembola. We consider the specimen as a sample contamination; most probably it was attracted by the sample of skin in the laboratory and got trapped in it. W. buskii's morphology is that of a typical epigeic one. As surface dweller it is not built for burrowing into human skin. a) i fully understand and will add the note to the internet version of my article b) meanwhile, i checked skin scrapings of a client with insectophobia and found parts of insects in there some of the scrapings were sampled by a medical doctor who sealed the envelope -- the client could neither touch nor contaminate this sample c) i do understand that collembola are unlikely organisms to expect in skin but i did find at least one arthropod that one may take as a spring tail (i also saw others) d) about the photo qualitiy: the pics were bad in the paper. however, i do use a leica mz 12.5 which is the best dissectiong microscope (German: "Binokular") i can imagine -- through it, i personally did see some insect parts, and complete insects being a forenisc biologist who checks for insects and their parts on crime scenes, i have to say: i did personally see the insect parts e) i do however NOT say they cause any illness, allergy etc. i just plainly say that they were present in skin scrapings from a patient with insectophobia f) apart from that, please understand that i am a member of the "German Society for Scientific Examinations of Allegedly Paranormal Claims" (Skeptic Society, GWUP) and debunk all types of bio-nonsense with pleasure however, here, the question remains, WHERE the insects come from they ARE present 2. With respect to the paper of Deborah Altschuler & al.: Note that her conclusions are based solely on interpretations of digitally enhanced images. as above -- i used my own equipment which is the best money can buy without any digital stuff, i did clearly see insects and parts of insects, some collected by the clients, some collected by a medical doctor in a sealed envelope On not enhanced images, nothing was seen. Not one single specimen of Collembola has been found. One should take into account a possible Rorshach effect. So as long as no specimen can be produced, the case is considered unproven. as above -- i also talked to the psychiatrist whom i mention in my article, and i guess we are all unsure what the presence of the insects actually means -- i do not want to say the client keeps smearing insects on her skin, or collects them in her appartment or outside -- it is possible but i will have to check her appartment because some of the insects she carried were really hard to spot (small!) and even harder to collect for an untrained person Care should be taken of not giving false hope to patients suffering from biting sensations. i agree i do not care about the "biting" or "itching" either -- i only check real, physical evidence A possible explanation for the biting sensations (alternatives for delususionay parasitosis or parasitic Collembola) is Lyme disease or related one. Untreated Lyme may affect the nervous system in due time and the affected nerves may generate false biting sensations. yes, i agree -- also allergies and many other things are a possible cause however, i do not care about this, i only check for real insects See http://www.Morgellons.org I have taken the liberty to CC Mary Leitao of the The Morgellons Research Foundation, Deborah Altschuler of the NPA, and Frauke Büttner, who contacted me after reading your publication. thank you for ccing -- i initially pointed Frau Buettner to you all the best maybe we meet one day (client, psychiatrist, you, me) to check the evidence and think about possible explanations for the insects that i did actually see yours mark
[Forensic Entomology]
[Forensic DNA] [More
Papers] [More
Talks] [More
Art = Home] [More
Cases] [More
Books] [More
Science Fun] [Search
in Benecke.Com] [Digital
Media Archive] [About
Benecke] [FAQ]
(c) DIE ZEIT & Dipl.-Biol. Dr. rer. medic.
Mark Benecke
, Certified Forensic Biologist,
International Forensic Research & Consulting, Postfach 250411, 50520
Cologne, e-mail forensic@benecke.com, Phone/SMS/Mailbox
+49-173-287-3136,
http://www.benecke.com/. Last update of this page on Sept 9, 2005.
http://www.benecke.com/collembolaskin.html
|
The National Pediculosis
Association is a non-profit, tax exempt © 1997-2005 The National
Pediculosis Association®, Inc. |