An extremely rare case, a baby girl with a severe congenital disorder and near-total missing external body skin, was born at a Nagpur hospital on June 11.
In medical parlance, this condition is called Harelquin Ichthyosis, and was recorded in India for the first time.
But just two days after birth, the baby has died, reported Hindustan Times.
The ‘Harlequin Baby’ – that’s what babies with this genetic disorder are called – died on Monday evening. She had been facing problems in breathing since morning and was put on a ventilator.
The baby was shown to the mother only on Monday afternoon and in the presence of a psychiatrist. The woman reportedly broke down when she saw her.
Born to a farmer’s family in Amravati in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, the baby was born pre-term with a hardened skin.
The hard surface covering her body had cracks and she weighed 1.8 kg at birth. She had no ears, was completely blind though she had two bright red bulges in place of eyes, had just two small holes for a nose and an inverted eye lid.
Such babies tend to catch infection quickly. The longest case of survival with this condition is of Baby Shaheen who was born in 1984 in Pakistan, as per latest medical records, survived at least till the age of 24.
