Newborn baby with ‘burnt skin’ found in Karachi trash bin

Doctors say condition of the baby is very critical and every effort is being made to save his life

KARACHI:

People in the Gulshan-e-Hadid locality were appalled to find a newborn baby abandoned in a rubbish bin – to their utter shock, it looked the child was burnt.

It later transpired that the child was suffering from a rare skin disease and most likely, his parent or parents got scared of his appearance of dark-grey scaled skin and threw him in the garbage bin.

Some people made calls on the 15 police helpline and soon a police squad and rescue service ambulance reached the spot near Ayesha Hospital.

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The child was immediately rushed to the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), where doctors confirmed that the baby was in fact suffering from a skin disease ichthyosis vulgaris.

The ailment is characterised by dry skin with small scales in a colour range from white to dirty gray or brown, making it look like as if it was burnt.

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It is a congenital disease in which the skin of a person feels as if someone may have burned it. A doctor at NICH said it is very difficult to find veins which make it very difficult to treat. The condition of the baby is very critical and every effort is being made to save his life, he said.

Meanwhile, Gulshan-e-Hadid police said they were looking for the parents of the child.