3 more admitted to DMCH with 'tree-man' illness

Three of a family were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) yesterday with what seemed like an initial stage of "tree-man" illness.

The patients Tajul Islam, 48, his brother Based, 55, and his son Ruhul Amin, 7, came from Rangpur where they begged for a living.

Doctors would hold a meeting on the nature of their illness today, said Dr Samanta Lal Sen, chief coordinator of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery at DMCH.

"We don't know if the three persons are suffering from the same illness as the first patient. But it looks like the conditions are less severe on the outside," Sen told The Daily Star.

While doctors strongly suspected that the first patient Abul Bajandar, 26, who was admitted to DMCH on January 30, was suffering from epidermodysplasia verruciformis or tree man syndrome, a proper diagnosis of the disease could take months, he said.

When Abul was admitted to the hospital he had warts resembling tree trunks, weighing almost four kilogrammes, on both hands and feet. A team of seasoned surgeons operated on his right hand on February 20.

As the media covered the stories of Abul's illness, local government representatives and the administration of Rangpur contacted Sen and sent the trio to DMCH.

Talking to The Daily Star, one of the three new patients Based said he had been suffering from the "painful condition" as far as he could remember. "My legs were cut off just over my knees at a local clinic about a couple of years ago. They said the infections were beyond treatment," he said.

He added that his younger brother Tajul Islam and his son had also been suffering since their early childhood.