In rare condition, Tamil Nadu infant keeps catching fire

[Ronan Kelly]

Not sure what to make of this. Go to the link to read it in full. - Ro


In rare condition, Tamil Nadu infant keeps catching fire
Saradha Mohan Kumar, TNN | Aug 10, 2013, 12.57 AM IST

CHENNAI: Rahul has been virtually in flames four times since he was born two-and-a-half months ago. Doctors say it's due to a rare condition called spontaneous human combustion (SHC).

Afflicted with the disorder, seen only in 200 people across the world in the past 300 years, the child is undergoing treatment at Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital.
...
Paediatrician Dr Narayana Babu, who is treating Rahul, said the baby emitted some highly combustible gas through the pores of his skin, which made him catch fire. "We have not identified the gas yet," said Dr Babu.
...
Dr Kalpesh Gajiwala, a burns specialist at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, said it was surprising that it happened to a child in a village, where children are usually breastfed and breast milk, would rarely ever be converted to methane. "A plausible hypothesis for SHC is that some bacteria, such as the methanogenic micro-organism-archaebacteria, in the intestine convert the food into methane, which is a combustible substance," said Dr Gajiwala.

A small spark, which need not be an obvious one, anywhere nearby, can trigger the fire, said the doctor. "Let us say if the child is covered with a silk cloth which can generate static electricity, the combustible gas and the electricity can cause fire," he said.
...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=timesofindia

 

[alert]

Re: In rare condition, Tamil Nadu infant keeps catching fire

Yeah, I don't believe this either. This article seems like psuedo-science.

There are large numbers of people with lots of alcohol in their blood (alcoholics, for example) who don't have this happen.

If this infant has been on fire four times already, someone really needs to investigate this as a possible attempted homicide, or at least a series of negligent accidents.

 

[Laidback Al]

Re: In rare condition, Tamil Nadu infant keeps catching fire

A quick search of spontaneous human combustion brings up a Wikipedia entry (link). A wikipedian, Bharathiya, has wasted no time adding this child to the entry as a notable example of spontaneous human combustion with today's Times of India article as the source.

Rahul, a two and half months old infant (As of Aug 2013) from Tamil Nadu, India, has been virtually in flames for four times since he was born. <sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference">[20] </sup>

Just another reason not to believe everything you read on Wikipedia.

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: In rare condition, Tamil Nadu infant keeps catching fire

machine translated;

Flammable child 5 hours by automatically testing tool for the Japanese
Comments
01:09:38 Friday2013-08-16

Chennai: Villupuram District D. Parankani Karna from the village, the couple's two-month-old male child Rajeswary Rahul body suddenly tippitittatu automatically. The Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for treatment in the last 8 Rahul added. Child's blood, urine, sweat, skin and sent to test. It revealed that Rahul does not have any effect. Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and sent to the lab. Its results have not yet come.

Phosphorus from the child's body veliyakirata or combustible methane, acetone, ethanol, and find that the gas veliyakirata modern equipment found in Japan. Shastra University, Thanjavur bought it revealed. The tool comes with Kilpauk Government Hospital, Rahul veliyakirata gas from the body? Ramakrishnan கண்டுபிடிக்கும்படி that Dean asked.

No gas from the body revealed that the child was not disclosed. The test started at 11 am to 4 pm. Dr. Narayana Babu said about it, "added the child's body in the hospital is not in the fires. In the morning there was only a slight fever yesterday, "he said.
http://www.dinakaran.com/News_Detail.asp?Nid=59129

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: In rare condition, Tamil Nadu infant keeps catching fire

The baby who caught fire by itself
Gladwin Emmanuel, Mumbai Mirror | Aug 18, 2013, 12.42 PM IST

A 2.5-month-old infant has caught fire 'spontaneously' four times. TOI goes to Chennai to track the story.
...
Since admission, Rahul has already undergone a battery of tests: an X-ray, an ultrasound of his skull, blood analysis for toxic substances, a radiological examination, sweat test, metabolic screening of urine and blood, renal and liver function tests, electrocardiography, skeletal survey, genetic test, molecular study, and abdomen, neurography and tandem mass spectrometry.
...
'This condition', however, is itself under the scanner. One of the theories put forward by Dr Babu is that the child produced combustible gases that led to his spontaneous burning up. On Thursday, they conducted a test to see if the child was producing combustible gases. "No feasible amount of methane or ethanol gas emission from Rahul's body has been found," Dr Babu says. President of the Federation of Rationalist Associations of India Narendra Nayak explains why. Gases like methane are produced in the gastro intestinal tract due to the breakdown of cellulose, the Mangalore-based professor of biochemistry points out. However, a child being breast-fed is unlikely to have any in his diet, since cellulose comes from plants. Even if a combustible gas from the body gets ignited, the burns wouldn't be surface wounds, argues Nayak. He has seen at least a dozen cases of SCH and each was found to be caused by an external spark. "Chemicals that burn 'spontaneously' are readily available. For example, potassium permanganate and glycerine mixed in the right proportion can burst into flames, as can metallic sodium when it comes in contact with air."
...
Yet, the parents feel helpless. "We've been running from hospitals to temples in a bid to save our child," says Karna, who hasn't been to work in the last three months, has pledged his wife's jewellery and borrowed from money lenders to sustain his family. "All the officials are grilling us as if it is we who have committed some crime," adds Rajeswari.
...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...tm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=TOIHealthNews

 

[Emily]

Re: In rare condition, Tamil Nadu infant keeps catching fire

There is a phenomenon that the authors below say should be more properly called "isolated body combustion" with "spontaneous extinction". (I think firefighters call these "compartment fires" and they have done experiments with pig carcasses to try to understand the mechanism, since pork fat is very close in composition to human fat.)

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01844.x/abstract;jsessionid=D5FAAD6B821DB2B0D08029C362AAFBB0.d01t02?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false

Commentary on the So-Called Spontaneous Human Combustion Phenomenon

S?bastien Duband M.D.1,
Michel P?oc?h M.D.2

Article first published online: 2 SEP 2011

DOI: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01844.x

? 2011 American Academy of Forensic Sciences

Issue
Journal of Forensic Sciences
Journal of Forensic Sciences

Volume 56, Issue 5, pages 1390?1393, September 2011

The cases examined in that article are all older women who were in a state of toxic sedation from medications or alcohol, and/or physically disabled. Here is a hint on why older women might be over-represented:

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13680571

itre du document / Document title
Experiments in the combustibility of the human body
Auteur(s) / Author(s)
CHRISTENSEN Angi M. ;
R?sum? / Abstract
This paper provides possible explanations for two previously misunderstood circumstances surrounding cases of socalled "spontaneous human combustion"-the nearly complete cremation of human bone, and the failure of such fires to spread to nearby combustibles. Two experiments were conducted. The first involved the cremation of "healthy" and "osteoporotic" human bone and observing the resulting fragmentation and color change. Osteoporotic elements consistently displayed more discoloration and a greater degree of fragmentation than healthy ones. The second experiment involved the combustion of a sample of human tissue and observation of the flame height and burning area in order to calculate the effective heat of combustion. The resulting heat was 17kJ/g g indicating a fire that is unlikely to spread. These results, which are among the first obtained for human samples, lend further support and credence to previous scientific explanations for "spontaneous human combustion".
Revue / Journal Title
Journal of forensic sciences ISSN 0022-1198 CODEN JFSCAS
Source / Source
2002, vol. 47, no3, pp. 466-470 [5 page(s) (article)]

What is happening to this baby does not seem to me to fit the phenomenon or the profile of likely victims.