Khalida Begum, 35, gave birth to the as-yet-unnamed baby on Monday night
Doctors diagnosed the boy with rare genetic condition Harlequin IchthyosisHowever, his symptoms also appear to be consistent with Anencephaly
Locals in Kathihar, India, claim he’s an incarnation of Hindu God Hanuman
A newborn baby was branded an ‘alien’ and later shunned by his mother after being born with an extremely rare condition, this week.
Khalida Begum, 35, gave birth to the as-yet-to-be-named baby on Monday night and was ‘shocked’ when she saw he had a small head and bulging eyes.
Doctors in India provisionally diagnosed him with an extremely rare genetic condition called Harlequin Ichthyosis, which gives sufferers thick skin and deformed features.
However, his symptoms also appear to be consistent with another uncommon defect called Anencephaly.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, that causes babies to be born without top parts of the brain and skull. Specifically, the forebrain and cerebrum.
Meanwhile, the remaining parts are often not covered by bone or skin.
Roughly three pregnancies in every 10,000 are affected by anencephaly, while only five UK children are born annually with Harlequin Ichthyosis.
The mother-of-four, from Kathihar in the North Indian state of Bihar, initially demanded midwives remove him from sight.
‘Several body parts of the baby is not completely developed,’ she told local reporters. ‘When I saw the baby after delivery for the first time, I was completely shocked to see the alien-looking boy.
‘I couldn’t believe that I had a delivered an alien-like boy. I was so shocked and saddened by this that I asked the midwife to take the baby out of my sight.’
Fortunately, several hours later, she relented and happily began nursing the child.
Since then villagers have been flocking to the family home, believing he is an incarnation of Hindu monkey God Hanuman.
The news comes just 24 hours after a 21 year-old man was deemed a deity after a mystery condition left him just 23 inches tall.
Manpreet Singh is the same height and weight as a six month old baby and is believed to be one of the smallest people in the world.
Currently undiagnosed, his condition remains a mystery. But now locals in Punjab, India, consider him a Hindu God reincarnated and visit him daily to be ‘blessed’.
WHAT IS HARLEQUIN ICHTHYOSIS?
Harlequin Ichthyosis is extremely rare, and comes out of the blue.
The parents of an affected baby are carriers and will have a one in four risk of any baby being affected.
The condition causes the skin to grow seven times faster than normal.
The skin appears tight, with thick plates of hard scales resembling armour plating or the harlequin suit of a jester.
The skin splits at several areas causing deep cracks. And a sufferer’s face looks stretched with turned out lips and eyelids, and the ears, hands and feet may be hidden by scales.
The extra skin needs to be removed constantly and ointment is also applied four or five times-a-day.
Children who survive will need ongoing intensive skin treatment with creams and courses of retinoid medicine and many require physiotherapy and counselling.
Source: The Ichthyosis Support Group
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