An eight-day-old baby is closely being monitored by a special team of doctors in India after having developed a rare medical condition which reportedly makes him "spontaneously combust."
The boy, from a village in Villupuram district, was admitted to Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital in Chennai after his feet allegedly burst into flames on Thursday, his mother K Rajeswari said. Currently, he's receiving round-the-clock care by a team of five doctors, including pediatricians, psychiatrists and plastic surgeons, The Times of India reported.
"We have sent wound swabs for tests. The results will be out in two days," Dr. N Gunasekaran, dean of the hospital, said over the weekend. "We will decide on further tests and treatment on Monday."
Initially, the newborn was admitted to a government hospital in Villupuram. But after being diagnosed of Spontaneous Human Combustion, a rare medical condition which literally sets him on fire, the baby was transferred to KMCH for a detailed medical examination, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said on Monday.
"The probability of baby catching fire spontaneously is bleak. However, we are not ruling out any options. We proposed to refer the baby and mother to a higher institute with better facilities like KMC for detailed investigations. The baby sustained 10 percent burn injuries on his ankles and feet," said medical college dean Usha Sadhasivam.
"The child has a burning injury in his leg. We are planning to give treatment to the baby's mother also", Radhakrishnan told reporters. "We have set up facilities that can closely monitor the child."
This is the second baby in the family that Rajeswari has claimed spontaneously caught fire, according to UK MailOnline. In August 2013, the 22-year-old mother's first son Rahul "caught fire" at least four times within the first 50 days of his birth.
After running a series of tests on the boy, doctors found that he had not spontaneously combusted, raising concerns that he may have been abused by relatives or burnt in an accidental fire. "People thought I set him on fire deliberately," Rajeswari said at the time.
However after undergoing treatment at KMCH, the three-month-old reportedly got cured and has not suffered from the condition since then.
Meanwhile Rajeswari has expressed reluctance to undergo a diagnosis again for her second son, arguing that she had previously been accused of abusing and torturing her first baby boy when the two underwent treatment at KMC, The Indian Express reported.
"There are possibilities of foul play also. On all instances of spontaneous combustion, the mother was the last person seen with the babies," Dr. Bharathidasan from Nedimozhiyanur PHC, who was the first to treat both her babies, said, adding that both the mother and babies had never showed any signs of abnormality during birth.
"I got a call on January 15 from her saying that the newborn caught fire like her first son. The infant was rushed to PHC. On diagnosis the baby was found to be normal except for the burn injuries on his ankles and feet," he added.
