One of the devils has the sores and grey skin that appear in other parts of the altarpiece and evoke the illnesses treated there.
The most common infections were herpes viruses, which cause cold sores, enteroviruses that upset stomaches, influenza, and rhinoviruses that trigger common colds.
There are sores, scabs and nasal hairs, each magnified by a factor of 200.
Much thinner than his body hair, the fibres seem to be protruding from his sores.
Like blood and sweat and feet and open sores and, if misery has a smell, like misery".
If, as morgellons patients believe, the sores are not self-inflicted but caused by fibre-creating parasites, how is this possible?
Most end up agreeing with the skin specialist to whom he first took samples of his fibre-stained cotton: his sores are self-inflicted and he suffers from delusions of parasitosis (DOP), a psychiatric condition in which people falsely believe themselves to be infested.
There were pills to deal with, food to chop or liquidise and feed, incontinence pads to change, incontinence sheets to lay down and change, and eventually a catheter bag to empty, sores to wash and dress.
They are less likely to fall over, get infections, get pressure sores – so they will stay in hospital for less time.
Morgellons was named in 2001 by an American called Mary Leitao, whose son complained of sores around his mouth and the sensation of "bugs".
Adverse events like high levels of infection, blood clots or falls in hospital, emergency readmissions and pressure sores cost the NHS billions of pounds every year.
