I am looking for five TOP SPECIALISTS in country in human parasite
infection. My daughter so far has been diagnosed as having Lyme
Disease (another specialist says results don't say this at all),
Morgellon's Disease, etc. Most
infectious disease specialists don't even want to deal with this but
say it's all in her head. I have seen things crawling out of her arms
and back myself. Who specializes in this type of condition. She is
truly going crazy over this as it has been going on for over a year
and now she says her son seems to be getting it also. HELP, PLEASE!

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 05 Nov 2005 21:28 PST

Which country?

---

Request for Question Clarification by umiat-ga on 05 Nov 2005 23:14 PST

Hello, toby9-ga! 
 The medical community is very divided over the diagnosis of
Morgellon's Disease, as I'm sure you have discovered. Has your
daughter actually been diagnosed with Morgellon's, and by whom?
 While there are very few doctors that acknowledge that Morgellon's is
a physical, rather than a psychological problem, I have found a few
that give credence to the physical nature of the disorder and work
with patients to find a treatment. I cannot guarantee five
specialists, but I will continue to look. Would you be satisfied with
at least three if I cannot find more?
 Also, please clarify whether you are in the United States, and a
little more about whether your daughter has actually received a
diagnosis of Morgellon's by a specialist. Have you been in touch with
the Morgellan's Foundation?
umiat

---

Clarification of Question by toby9-ga on 06 Nov 2005 12:01 PST

We live in San Diego but top specialists anywhere will do. My Daughter
has been confirmed to have Lyme Disease by Ginger Savely, nurse
practitioner who deals with both this and Morgellons. I am trying to
have my daughter see a Lyme specialist in San Diego as an Infectious
Disease specialist at the U. of California looked at Ms. Savely's test
results and says he does not see Lyme. Most doctors want this to be
Delusional Parasitosis and not deal with it, but I have seen the
increased weight loss, the sores on arms, the change in hair (as if
it's being eaten), the inner-system problems, etc., etc. not to
mention the "husks" of whatever is coming off of her in her bed and
house. Whatever she has is a real disease or parasitical infestation
and there MUST be doctors or research facilities in this country that
diagnose and handle this.

---

Clarification of Question by toby9-ga on 06 Nov 2005 12:09 PST

More clarification: sorry, forgot this.  Ginger Savely also said that
my daughter has Morgellon's BUT is treating her for Lyme Disease,
which appears in almost all Morgellon's patients.

I would like the specialists to not only be MD's in the field of
parasitology but also available.

Yes, we have been in contact with the Morgellon's Foundation. This is
where we found Ms. Savely. But, at this point, we need MUCH MORE than
Ms. Savely but professionals with research facilities behind them.

---

Request for Question Clarification by umiat-ga on 06 Nov 2005 17:06 PST

Hello again, toby9-ga!

I have spent many, many hours searching for Morgellan's specialist's,
or parastic disease specialists, who have an interest in Morgellan's,
and come up with only three doctors that I feel "might" be worth a
preliminary phone call. I know you have asked for the top five
specialists in this area who are also MD's in parasitology.
Unfortunately, there are no real "specialists" that deal in
Morgellon's. In fact, there is not even a mention of the disease on
the Pubmed database. There has, to date, been no validation of the
existence of Morgellon's by the medical community. In fact, as you
have acknowledged, this is considered a delusional disease by most of
the medical community. After reading both sides of the debate, I
remain neutral, simply because I have not had to suffer the seemingly
horrific discomfort of this phenomenon.

The three medical professional's who have expressed some validation
about Morgellan's do not "advertise" this as their specialty. They
seem to be under the radar, so to speak. I also cannot vouch for their
expertise or integrity. However, I think they are your best, and only
bet at this point.

If you feel that these three names are worthy references in the
absence of any other specialists, please let me know and I will go
ahead and post this information as an answer. Alternatively, perhaps
there is some additional information that I can pursue.



Dr. Raphael Stricker
=====================
Union Square Medical Associates
450 Sutter Street, Suite 1504
San Francisco, CA  94108 
info@usmamed.com
(415) 283-1911 
http://www.usmamed.com/00resources/htm/clinic.htm

Dr. Stricker's Curriculum Vitae
http://www.usmamed.com/00resources/htm/cv.htm

=

Mention of Dr. Stricker's acknowledgement of Morgellon's can be found
in the following articles:

"Mysterious lesions defy definition," By Sandy Kleffman. CONTRA COSTA
TIMES. 3/2005. http://www.texramp.net/~chazman/CCTm0305.htm

"Hundreds of people in California, Florida, Texas and elsewhere tell
similar stories of a mysterious skin condition they have dubbed
Morgellons in honor of the first suspected case, described 400 years
ago. Is a new, unknown disease striking these regions? Or is it simply
"delusional parasitosis," a condition in which people falsely believe
they are infested by parasites? Medical experts are divided. Most
remain skeptical, if they have heard of Morgellons at all."

** But Dr. Raphael Stricker, a San Francisco Lyme disease specialist,
believes the condition is real. "It's a very bizarre kind of symptom,
and I think it's been trivialized in the past," Stricker said. "But
people are starting to pay more attention because there are more and
more patients who seem to have it."

** But Stricker, who is treating six people with the condition,
disagrees. "It's really more than that because you can see them coming
through the skin," he said."

=

From "Making Their Skin Crawl," BY BENJAMIN CHERTOFF. Popular
Mechanics. June, 2005.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/medicine/1662162.html?page=1&c=y

"Dr. Raphael Stricker, a Lyme disease specialist in San Francisco,
sees a handful of Morgellons patients--all of whom have tested
positive for chronic Lyme disease. He thinks that Borrelia
burgdorferi, the bacteria behind Lyme disease, has set his patients up
for another, as-yet-unidentified, infection."



Dr. William Harvey
===================
Del Rio, Texas


From "Medical community skeptical," by Frank X. Mullen Jr. Reno
Gazette Journal. 2004.
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2004/05/08/70307.php

"Dr. William Harvey of Houston, who said he successfully treated
Morgellons patients and believes the skin infestations are the result
of a weakened skin immunity, said doctors can easily see the physical
symptoms in people who are branded "delusional." He said when patients
complain that "fibers" are coming out of their skin sores, physicians
should investigate.

=

I found a potential contact number for Dr. Harvey in the following article:
http://www.ilads.org/harvey2.html

"Dr. Harvey has moved to his Del Rio, Texas, vacation home, where he
spends most of his time writing about Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia
and organizing a database to be shared with other physicians. He
closed his Houston office in September, and except for Charlie and a
few others who were diagnosed with ALS, his patients were referred to
other physicians. But the afflicted call, and the doctor is seeing new
patients again. (He can be reached through his assistant, Glenda
Castillo, at 830-774-4094.)"

=

A "reverse search" for the phone number mentioned above brought up the
following contact info:

The Family Care Clinic - (830) 774-4094 - 119 E Academy St, Del Rio, TX 78840  

=

I have found no vitae for Dr. Harvey.



George R. Schwartz, MD
=======================
Healing Research Institute
PO Box 1968
Santa Fe, NM 87504
Phone: 505-424-9467
Cell: 505-610-8243
drgschwartz@healingresearch.org
http://www.healingresearch.org/index.html

Morgellon's
http://www.healingresearch.org/news.html

Dr. Schwartz has been a primary validator for the existence of
Morgellon's as a real disease. His newly published book can be found
on his website:
http://www.healingresearch.org/new.html

Curriculum Vitae
http://www.healingresearch.org/cvabb.htm


==


Please let me know if these referrals meet your needs in terms of an
answer. I will look foward to hearing from you.
 

umiat


Alternatively, you can certainly visit a specialist in parisitic
diseases without mentioning Morgellon?s and see what the response
might be.

Division of Infectious Diseases at UC San Diego
http://medicine.ucsd.edu/id/

 The Major Research Interests of the faculty include.....and parasitology


Stanford Infectious Disease Clinic
http://www.stanfordhospital.com/clinicsmedServices/clinics/infectiousDiseases/infectiousDisease

---

Clarification of Question by toby9-ga on 06 Nov 2005 18:03 PST

I greatly appreciate the work you're doing but I have all of the names
you've given me which are easily located in one article on the
internet and at the Morgellon's site.

What I'm looking for, once again, are the names of the 5 top
specialists in the parasitic disease field.

My daughter has been diagnosed with both Lyme and Morgellon's, both of
which are possible, I guess,  but she definitely has some type of
parasite and THAT is what we're looking to find out about.

---

Request for Question Clarification by umiat-ga on 06 Nov 2005 21:07 PST

Thanks so much for your clarification. For some reason, I thought you
were stuck on the Morgellon's route! I am going to open this up to
other researchers since I cannot say definitively who the top five
parisitic disease specialists are in the United States, nor whether
they would have availability.
 I am hoping another researcher will be able to assist you. Take care!

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 09 Nov 2005 12:30 PST

toby9-ga,

I hope we can find you some information that will help you and your
daughter with a difficult situation.

Over the years, I have been quite impressed with a site called
eMedicine.  They are a very reliable and credible source of medical
information, with detailed summaries presented by experts in the
field.

Please have a look at this eMedicine link for pediatric parasitology:


http://www.emedicine.com/ped/PARASITOLOGY.htm


By clicking on any of the conditions listed here, you will be taken to
an in-depth review of the condition, written by one of the pre-eminent
experts in the field.

For instance, clicking on the first link for Amebiasis takes you to:


http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic80.htm


written by:


Maria A Horga, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatric
Infectious Diseases, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

and co-authored by:


Vinod K Dhawan, MD, Chief, Program Director, Division of Infectious
Diseases, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, King/Drew
Medical Center, Charles R Drew University; Professor, Department of
Clinical Medicine, UCLA



Here is a link to other eMedicine articles that concern parasitic diseases:


://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-45%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=site%3Awww.emedicine.com+parasite+OR+parasites+-inurl%3Aparasitology+-inurl%3Aped&btnG=Search



A link to their Lyme Disease page:


http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1346.htm



they do not have an entry for Morgellon's, though.



I don't have a way, myself, to pare down this list -- these are all
parasitic specialists, and I have no idea who among them are the
'best'.

But you may want to look through the listings yourself, and identify
the doctors of most interest to you -- perhaps by starting with those
in the Southern California area.

Let me know if this is useful at all, and what other information you
would like to have at this point.

All the best to the both of you,

pafalafa-ga

---

Clarification of Question by toby9-ga on 09 Nov 2005 16:32 PST

My daughter is 49 years old and believe me, we have gone to doctor
after doctor(none of them pediatric) and none of them wanted to take
the time, energy or brains to seek out an answer to this problem.

What I'm trying to say is, we have been everywhere on the Internet
plus UCSD (we live in San Diego), plus her HMO (useless), plus MY
infectious disease specialist (just as useless) and she ended up going
to a woman in San Francisco who works with Dr. Harvey in Texas. She
told my daughter she has Lyme Disease (???) and Morgellon's (???) and
was treating her for Lyme (didn't help). The UCSD doctor, as I've said
previously, said that the test results my daughter received from the
woman in San Francisco, showed no sign of Lyme. My daughter is not
going back to this woman as she is under investigation by the Medical
Board.

We thought we found someone in San Diego but she also is under the
same kind of investigation.

---

Request for Question Clarification by umiat-ga on 09 Nov 2005 17:47 PST

Hello again, toby9-ga!

Please, please, please, do not be angry with me or take offense. I am
worried about your daughter, and I know you are even more so because
you are so frantic to help her. As one parent to another, and as one
who has a history of mental disorders within my family, I urge you to
be "open" to delusional paranoia simply as one option. It is very hard
to accept that this might be a possibility, I know. But when you have
exhausted traditional medical resources for parasite infestation and
come up empty-handed, it might be time to look elsewhere. If, just if,
this is a psychological problem, you will be helping your daughter
immensely. She seems to be suffering greatly, and you are suffering
for her and with her. Her suffering will continue and only get worse
without medical intervention. It is worth it, for her sake, to look in
all directions. I truly do understand, because I have lived it. Not
with this diagnosis, but with another, more severe mental illness
involving a family member.
 Please be open to looking over the following references. You don't
even have to mention the word "imagination" or "delusion" to your
daughter. The "Treatment" section provides a very gentle way to
persuade your daughter to seek help for the discomfort.
http://delusion.ucdavis.edu/ 
http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic939.htm (see Treatments)
 Again, please do not take offense. At this point, you are your
daughter's lifeline to some help. And, at the same time, she is trying
to be a mother and cope with this severe discomfort. Please be open.
In fact, it might just be worth it to give this alternative medical
diagnosis a try while you are seeking professional parasitologists. If
she truly has a parasite infection, psychotropic medication either
won't work, or it might simply help her deal with the discomfort until
you find a parasitologist.

With utmost concern, respect and sincerity,

umiat

If you are open, you might want to continue following this search string:
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2003-47,GGLD:en&q=medication+for+delusional+parasitosis

---

Clarification of Question by toby9-ga on 10 Nov 2005 09:23 PST

I want to thank you so much for your heartfelt words; I would never
take offense. The truth is, my daughter was a completely normal person
until this beset her. The frustration of NOT being able to be
diagnosed and NOT being able to even find someone who will listen to
her is making her a bit nuts.

I have SEEN grains of something coming out of her hands, arms, feet. I
have SEEN things in her bed. I have SEEN her eyes developing problems,
even taking her to the ER one weekend.  I have SEEN the enormous
weight loss during the past 10 months. I can SEE the holes in her
arms. I have SEEN her growing "foggy" and this is a woman with, as I
told you, three university degrees who has always been sharp as a
tack.

It would be too easy to say  "Oh, she's just a little nuts" but that
isn't it at all.  If I had the same thing, I would have gone over the
edge by now, particularly since nobody in the medical establishment
wants to deal with the problem.

Hi toby9,

You've posted a very interesting, heartfelt, and challenging question
and I dearly hope I can be of some help. I do not find it hard to
believe that your daughter is experiencing the symptoms as described
because I have seen for myself the disturbing emergence of the Botfly
larvae in cattle and have been aware that there is a human version of
this miserable condition. This is not to say that it is likely that
your daughter is infested with Myiasis Dermatobia hominis (human
Botfly)  (the emerging larvae do not resemble rice), but I just want
to set your mind at ease to let you know that I sincerely understand
the horror of your daughter's situation and why you are so anxious to
find someone who can help.

"Myiasis is the invasion of living tissue or organs by the immature
stage (maggots) of flies."
http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/myiasis.html

In researching your question, it became clear that diagnosing
parasitic diseases is often difficult at best and it's not unusual
that three or more evaluations are needed before finding the culprit
(due in part to various life cycles).  For me, I think your daughter
needs to be seen by a group of specialists who will work together,
such as a dermatologist, psychiatrist, entomologist and
parasitologist, to rule out a number of maladies through various means
such as, skin scrapings, blood, chemistry, and thyroid test, rather
than just one specialist.  The number one clinic in the country is the
National Institutes of Health Parasitology Unit in Maryland (the NIH
is usually by referral only but calling them would definitely be a
good place to start or perhaps your daughter's physician could try to
go that route).

1. National Institutes of Health, Clinical Parasitology Unit

* Klion, Amy , BA MD
Staff Physician, Clinical Parasitology Unit
Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institutes of Health
Lab. of Parasitic Diseases
Bldg. 4, Rm. 126
Bethesda, MD 20892
United States
Phone: (301) 435-8903
Fax: (301) 480-3757
Internet: aklion@nih.gov
Hours Available: Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm by appointment.
Services Offered: Diagnosis and treatment of parasitic diseases.
Laboratory facilities available.
http://www.astmh.org/clinicians/clinics.cfm

Nash, Theodore E., MD
Head, Gastrointestinal Parasites Section
Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases NIAID/NIH
9000 Rockville Pike
Bldg 4 Room B1-06
Bethesda, MD 20892
United States
Phone: (301) 496-6920
Fax: (301) 402-2689
Internet: tnash@niaid.nih.gov
"Services Offered: A member of a group of physicians based in the
Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases diagnosing, studying and treating a
variety of parasitic or possibly parasitic diseases. These include but
are not limited to schistosomiasis, filariasis, strongyloidiasis,
cysticercosis, leishmaniasis, Chagas' disease, malaria, echinococcus
disease, giardiasis, amebiasis and other gastrointestinal parasites.
The National Institutes of Health is a research institution . Patients
are referred by their physicans and are required to meet protocol
guidelines. Selected patients are then entered into research
protocols."
http://www.astmh.org/clinicians/clinics.cfm

2. Ohio State University

Dr. Peter W. Pappas:
Professor and Chairperson, Department of Zoology,
The Ohio State University. 1735 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1293
http://www.cdfound.to.it/html/cont.htm

Declaration of Peter W. Pappas, Ph.D.
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/clarkaff/pappas.html

Dr. Pappas' website:
http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/home.html

3. McGill University Centre for Tropical Diseases

MacLean, J. Dick , MD FRCPC DCMT (Lond)
Director
McGill University Centre for Tropical Diseases, Montreal General Hospital
Associates: Brian Ward, MD; Laurence Green, MD, FRCPC; Joyce
Pickering, MD, FRCPC; Michael Libman, MD, FRCPC; Chris Greenaway, MD
FRCPC
Natl Reference Centre for Parasitology
1650 Cedar Avenue, Room D7-153
Montreal, QC H3G 1A4
Canada
Phone: (514) 937-6011 ext 3872
Fax: (514) 933-9385
Internet: dick.maclean@mcgill.ca; Website: http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/tropmed
Hours Available: Monday–Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm; on call rest of time.
"Services Offered: Full parasitology laboratory, National Reference
Centre for Parasitology, all vaccinations, full clinical tropical
disease center with wide consultation facility within McGill
University teaching hospital system."
http://www.astmh.org/clinicians/clinics.cfm

McGill University Centre for Tropical Diseases
National Reference Centre for Parasitology
http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/tropmed/txt/national.htm

4. Parasitology Center Inc.

Omar Amin
Parasitology Center, Inc. (PCI)
903 S. Rural Rd. #101-318
Tempe   AZ   85281
omaramin@aol.com	
Work Phone Number: (480) 767-2522
Fax Number: (480) 767-5855
http://www.parasitetesting.com/contactinformation/

Amin, Omar M., PhD
Parasitology Center, Inc.
903 S. Rural Rd., #101-318
Tempe, AZ 85281
United States
Phone: (480) 767-2522
Fax: (480) 767-5855
Internet: omaramin@aol.com; Website: www.parasitetesting.com
Hours Available: Monday-Thursday, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm.
Services Offered: Diagnosis of and consultations re: gastrointestinal
and other parasitic diseases. Mailable kits available for collection
of fecal samples in all continents; call Alpha-Tec at 800-221-6058 for
kits. We work most closely with gastrointestinal parasitic diseases
and skin disorders."
http://www.astmh.org/clinicians/clinics.cfm

"Dr. Omar, M. Amin, Ph.D., founder of PCI, is a Professor of
Parasitology.   He is a nationally and internationally recognized
authority in the field with over 140 major articles/books published in
American and foreign professional journals on human and animal
parasites from North America, North Africa, Peru, Persian Gulf, Kenya,
Czech Republic, Russia, Inner Mongolia (China), Thailand, Taiwan, and
Vietnam. Dr. Amin has conducted international parasitology workshops
including a recent one in the Persian Gulf as a Fulbright Scholar and
had received many other honors, awards and Parasitology research
grants. He has authored a 5-part educational video series on
"Parasitic Infections of Humans, Diagnosis and Pathology" produced by
the Center for Improvement of Human Functioning International of
Wichita, Kansas."
http://www.parasitetesting.com/companyhistory/

Can I get tested for parasites at PCI?
"Yes. Anyone from anywhere in the world can be tested for parasites
through our mailable kit where you collect the specimen. It will
normally take 2 to 5 working days from the time we receive the
specimen to get the results back. Anyone can send a specimen to be
tested but results need to be sent to a health care professional, such
as physicians, chiropractors, etc."
http://www.parasitetesting.com/faqs/

5.  The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
I've searched the ASTMH website and have come up with a list of 12
clinics which mention diagnosis rather than just immunizations for
travel, and most are associated with major, well-known medical
clinics. This is by no means all of the clinics on their website and
you might want to browse through it as well using the pull-down menu.

"The following is a list of physicians who offer clinical consultative
service in Tropical Medicine, Medical Parasitology, and Travelers'
Health. The list does not imply endorsement, or verification of
credentials, or expertise of those listed.
An asterisk ( * ) preceding a name in this directory designates those
individuals who have successfully completed the certification process
and have received the Certificate of Knowledge in Clinical and
Tropical Medicine and Traveler's Health.
To be included in the directory, individuals must be a member of ASTMH
and its clinical subgroup, ACCTMTH."
http://www.astmh.org/clinicians/clinics.cfm

MASSACHUSETTS
* Ryan, Edward T., MD DTM&H
Director, Trop. and Geo. Med. and Travelers' Advice and Imm. Ctr.
Division of Infectious Diseases Massachusetts General Hospital
Associates: Practice of 5 physicians and 3 nurses.
Founders House 8
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA 02114
United States
Phone: Patients/Appointments: (617) 724-1934
Fax: (617) 726-7653
Internet: ETRyan@partners.org
Hours Available: Monday, 1:00 pm - 8:30 pm; Tuesday/Wednesday., 8:30
am - 4:30 pm; Thursday/Friday, 8:30 am - 1:00 pm and by appointment.
Services Offered: Full international medicine, travelers' health and
immunization center (including YF). Full tropical and geographic
medicine clinic. Full parasitology, bacteriology, virology, fungal and
serology laboratories.

* Marcus, Leonard C., VMD, MD
Travelers’ Health and Immunization Services
148 Highland Ave.
Newton, MA 02465-2510
United States
Phone: (617) 527-4003
Fax: (617) 964-6111
Internet: www.travelmedicalcare.com
Hours Available: Monday–Friday, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Services Offered: Pre- and post-travel medical consultation,
parasitology, tropical medicine, zoonoses (diseases transmitted from
animals to people), all immunizations including YF. Specialized
consultation for outdoor adventure and for business and executive
travelers. Parasite identification laboratory.

WASHINGTON
McMullen, Russell , MD
UW Travel and Tropical Medicine Service University of Washington School of Med.
University of Washington Medical Center
Box 356123
Seattle, WA 98195-6123
United States
Phone: (206) 598-6205
Fax: (206) 598-4569
Internet: mcmullen@u.washington.edu
Hours Available: 24 hours/day, 7 days/week through Emergency Department if needed.
Services Offered: Medical care, laboratory diagnosis, immunizations.
Routine and travel immunizations including YF; diagnosis and treatment
of parasitic and tropical diseases; PhD parasitologist consultation
through university clinic, micro lab; special treatment protocols for
parasitic infections available.

NEW YORK
Tanowitz, Herbert , MD
Professor of Pathology and Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Associates: Dr. Murray Wittner, Dr. Louis M. Weiss
1300 Morris Park Ave.
Bronx, NY 10461
United States
Phone: (718) 430-3342
Fax: (718) 430-8543
Internet: tanowitz@aecom.yu.edu
Hours Available: Monday–Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, by appointment.
Services Offered: Immunizations, including YF, tropical medicine and
parasitology consultation. Complete parasitology lab including
immunologic tests for parasites.

NEW JERSEY
* Abter, Elfatih , MD FACP
Director
Newark Beth Israel Hospital The Trip Center
201 Lyons Ave. at Osborne Place
Suite G3
Newark, NJ 07112
United States
Phone: (973) 926-4909
Fax: (973) 926-8182
Internet: eabter@sbhcs.com
Hours Available: Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. By appointment only.
Services Offered: Clinical tropical medicine; consultation for
parasitic and tropical diseases; Yellow Fever Certificates; required
and recommended immunizations for travel; travel medicine; pre-travel
and post-travel evaluation and treatment; counseling for healthy and
safe travel. Board certification: Internal Medicine and Infectious
Diseases.

* Alcid, David V., MD
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Clinical Academic Bldg.
125 Paterson Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
United States
Phone: (732) 235-7060
Fax: (732) 235-7951
Hours Available: Tuesday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm; Wednesday, 8:00 am -
12:00 pm; Thursday, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. Emergencies seen as required.
Services Offered: Diagnosis and treatment of tropical and parasitic
diseases. Pre-travel counseling and immunization, YF, plague, JE.
Parasitology laboratory on-site.

Majlessi, Hojabr F., MD FACP FIAC FRSH
Director of Laboratories and Continuing Medical Education
Kessler Memorial Hospital
600 S. White Horse Pike
Hammonton, NJ 08037
United States
Phone: (609) 561-6700, X5221
Fax: (609) 561-5447
Hours Available: Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm, by appointment only.
Services Offered: Pre-travel and post-travel counseling and laboratory
tests. Health education for tropics. Examination of slides and
histological specimens of parasitic diseases.

CALIFORNIA
Vinetz, Joseph M., MD
Associate Professor
UCSD Dept of Medicine, MC 0640
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093
United States
Phone: (858) 534-6010
Fax: (858) 534-6020
Internet: jvinetz@ucsd.edu
Hours Available: Weekly on Wednesdays, 24 hrs for acute illnesses.
Services Offered: Pre-travel consultation; immunizations, including
Yellow Fever; post-travel follow-up; tertiary referral center by
physician referral only. Diagnostic capabilities include parasitology,
and full range of arbovirus, zoonotic bacterial and viral agents.

Turner, Jerrold A., MD DTM&H
Turner Parasitology (Diagnostic Parasitology Laboratory Services)
519 W. Carson St., #104
Carson, CA 90745
United States
Phone: (310) 212-6559
Fax: (310) 212-7367
Internet: jturner@ucla.edu
Hours Available: Hours by appointment.
Services Offered: Specialized laboratory for the diagnosis of
parasitic disease. Specimen collection kits are provided for post paid
mailing by the patient.

WASHINGTON
* Sanford, Christopher , MD DTMH
Co-Director, Hall Health Travel Clinic U of Washington
Hall Health Primary Care Center
Associates: Elaine C. Jong, MD
Univ of Washington
Box 354410
Seattle, WA 98195-4410
United States
Phone: (206) 616-2495 (appts)
Fax: (206) 685-1853
Internet: travel@u.washington.edu
Hours Available: Monday-Friday, 8:00 am -5:00 pm.
Services Offered: Immunizations including YF, JE, Hep A. Diagnosis and
treatment of parasitic and tropical diseases. On-site laboratory, with
referral to proximate university hospital PhD parasitologist. On-site
pharmacy, specializing in travel medications and adjuncts.

WYOMING
Little, James R., MD FAAP
Jackson Hole Travel and Tropical Medicine
Associates: David R. Shlim, MD
557 East Broadway
P.O. Box 1029
Jackson, WY 83001
United States
Phone: (307) 733-4627 Office
Fax: (307) 733-5184
Internet: jlittle@wyoming.com
Hours Available: Monday-Friday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm by appointment.
Services Offered: Pre-travel consultations and all immunizations,
including YF. Post-travel consultations and evaluations for parasitic
and tropical diseases.

Shlim, David R., MD
Medical Director
Jackson Hole Travel and Tropical Medicine
Associates: James R. Little, MD FAAP
557 East Broadway
P.O. Box 1029
Jackson, WY 83001
United States
Phone: (307) 733-4627
Fax: (307) 734-6235
Internet: drshlim@wyoming.com
Hours Available: Monday-Friday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm by appointment.
Services Offered: Pre-travel consultations and all immunizations,
including YF. Post-travel consultations and evaluations for parasitic
and tropical diseases.

6.. University of California at Davis
I agree with umiat about UC Davis and wholeheartedly encourage you to
at least consider them.

Entomological Services
The Center for Biosystematics, University of California, Davis, has
professional entomologists and parasitologists who are trained to
evaluate specimens of the kind needed to determine whether a true
insect or other kind of infestation is present, or not, in cases of
suspected delusional parasitosis. This service is available for a per
sample fee of $120.
For more information on this service contact:
Center for Biosystematics
c/o Department of Entomology
University of California
One Shields Ave.
Davis, CA 95616
Email: bmuseum@ucdavis.edu 
http://delusion.ucdavis.edu/


Additional Links of Interest

Merck Manual: Infections: Parasitic Infections
"A doctor who suspects that a person may have a parasitic infection
may take samples of blood, stool, or urine for laboratory analysis.
The doctor may also take a sample of tissue that may contain the
parasite. Repeated sample collections and examinations may be
necessary to find the parasite."
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec17/ch196/ch196a.html

Parasitic Infections
http://www.healthcyclopedia.com/infectious-diseases/parasitic.html

Atlas of Medical Parasitology
http://www.cdfound.to.it/HTML/atlas.htm

Cutaneous Larva Migrans
http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic1278.htm

Scabies (mites)
http://www.emedicine.com/PED/topic2047.htm

General Information
Diagnosis of Parasitic Diseases
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/public/geninfo_diagnosis_diseases.htm

Parasitic Disease Information Alphabetical Listing
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/listing.htm

Parasites and Parasitogical Resources
"This site contains over 550 images of more than 180 species of
parasites, as well as information about the "biology" of many of these
parasitic species."
http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/home.html

Although difficult, your question has been interesting to research and
I hope it enables you to find just what you are looking for. Don't
forget to tell your daughter to collect some samples the next time she
sees some "rice".  Not only can they be invaluable evidence for the
clinician but she can also put some in a jar and see what they turn
into. If you have any questions, please post a clarification request
and wait for me to respond before closing/rating my answer.

Thank you,
hummer

I spent much of my time following links that I found on the many
parasitology websites. Some of the Google search terms that I used in
many combinations were parasites parasitogical resources parasitic
disease diseases diagnosis medical parasitology infections tropical
hospital university specialists human testing.

This is for HUMMER-GA!!! I'm not sure if my previous e-mail went
through to you so am writing this one merely to clarify how absolutely
satisfied I am with HUMMER-GA's answer to my question. It is clean,
concise, detailed and all new information which I didn't have
previously. The other researchers are not even on the same level as
this one, though I would like to thank them also for their efforts.
Thank you, HUMMER-GA. I am forwarding this to my daughter so that she
can begin the process of phoning, e-mailing and trying to choose the
right place to go.

(If the other e=mail DID go through, please only charge me ONCE. Thanks!

Hello Toby9-ga,

With the same respect and concern expressed by my colleague Umiat-ga,
please let me add a few words in the same lines. While not being a
clinical but a social psychologist, I do have some knowledge on
psychological symptomatology. The fact of having physical, observable
symptoms as those you've seen and described, doesn't discard the
psychological origin of a disease. It's not just a matter of someone
"imagining", say, a damage on the skin; the mind's instrument is the
brain, and this is a very powerful organ that may *produce* the
physical damage. This is not magic at all. The brain is a totally
physical device that works through chemical reactions; the neural
system interacts with glands and organs and is able to produce
unexpected symptoms resembling those of known diseases, thus very
often confusing the physicians. Of course, I'm not in a position to
assert anything about your daughter's condition. My comment only
intends to suggest you not to discard the psychological possibility
just because you see the symptoms, because very real, tangible
symptoms can have a psychological origin. Anyway, whatever the cause
of this situation finally proves to be, I warmly wish you and your
daughter all the best.

Kindest regards,

Guillermo

Dear toby9,

Thank you so much for your nice note, rating, and generous tip - I'm
very glad to hear that my answer hit the spot. Not to worry, I checked
and you have only posted one question so you won't be charged twice
(you actually used the system perfectly, some first-timers have a bit
of trouble with the clarification process). I'd like to say a little
bit about the other comments and clarifications you received. None of
them are posted answers and so to compare them to my answer is like
comparing apples and oranges, you just can't.  Had one of my
colleagues decided to post an answer, I'm sure they would've tried to
flesh it out the same way I tried to.

You are a good Mom and I hope all turns out well for your daughter. 

Welcome to GA!
Sincerely, 
hummer

Dear toby9, We really need to connect! My brother (my sister, my
mother, and myself have SEEN it for ourselves) has EXACTLY what you
have described your daughter to have- the "husks" the skin sores, his
eyes are sick looking and he contines to loose weight. We have SEEN
fly-like bugs coming out of his skin pors. He has not been able to
work because of the sores on his shin that are like scabs. Before this
he was a strong, and now he is running out of time. We have been to
countless doctors who do nothing. One dematologist laughed at him and
told him to use Head and Shoulders. They all start out asking him if
he is doing drugs or has aids. We have traveled to other cities to be
told he has nothing and to go back to work.  Yet his condition
continues. We are running out of money and mostly options. My brother
lives near Valencia, Ca. If we can work with someone who is going
through this together maybe we can get to the bottom of this and
ultimatly get a real diagnosis and treatment! Please let us know if
you have found a doctor that will take your daughters symptoms
seriously. An expert on human parasites. Please respond. We need help.
angie1-ga

toby9, My mother is having skin sores that are similar too. I think
she is getting infected with the same parasites (we have seen three
different looking "bugs"). This is driving us all crazy, because there
seems to be no help out there so we were so glad to find you.

I am responding to Angie-ga who wrote on Nov. 18th.  Did you see the
research that Hummer-ga posted on the board? This is the first time I
have used Google.Answers so don't know if you can see everything that
has been posted. Let me know.