"Burning" baby stable, tests show no abnormality

The new born baby boy hospitalised here with a rare medical condition which literally sets him on fire is stable and several medical tests so far show no abnormality, the hospital Dean said today.
"The child is doing fine and stable...We have completed all important examinations inluding blood tests, scan, and X-ray and so far there is no evidence to show any abnormality," Dean of Kilpauk Government Medical College Hospital Dr N Gunasekaran told PTI.
The ten-day-old male baby, third child of a Villupuram-based couple, was rushed here yesterday after it suffered five per cent burn injuries on his feet and portions of thigh after 'catching fire'.

The boy is reportedly suffering from Spontaneous Human Combustion, a rare medical condition which literally sets him on fire.
An older child of the same couple also was admitted here after it suffered from similar condition in 2013. The child was treated and discharged and is fine since then.
The strange case of the child, however, created ripples in Tamil Nadu.

At that time, the claim of the baby catching fire "on its own" or without any external factor triggering it was not entertained by medical authorities as it could not be supported by medical evidence.
Now, another child of the same couple has been admitted here with the same complaint. While it is true that the child suffered burns, its exact cause was not known.

Health minister C Vijaya Baskar and Health secretary J Radhakrishnan visited the baby at the hospital yesterday.
"This claim of the child catching fire on its own is only a suspicion. Our specially constituted panel of experts are looking into it. There is no evidence as of now to prove that," Dr Gunasekaran added.