Barely two weeks after a baby with strange features was born in Malawi’s lakeshore district of Salima, another baby with no nose and unable to open its eyes has also born in the same district.
Born to Moreen Chikalamba of Mkochi Village in the area of Traditional Authority Chiwere in Dowa District, the child was born in the morning hours of Wednesday at a government hospital in the district.
Salima District Hospital Spokesperson, William Kaunda has identified the condition as “Arhinia” which is the congenital absence of the external nose, nasal cavities and offertory apparatus.
He said it is a genetic and it’s being associated with the inversion and trisomy of chromosome 9. He said cases of that nature rarely happen in the world.
“Cases of this nature are rarely country wide. We need by all means to refer the child to Kamuzu Central Hospital where our friends there should assist us. The child, having no nose has problems with breathing and in view of that, we are referring it to Lilongwe,” said Kaunda.
According to a study so far, surgical repair of such cases is staged beginning at an appropriate age of 5 years and that the final revision on the same, is conducted near puberty stage.
