Staff Reporter :
For the first time in Bangladesh, a patient suffering from rare “tree man illness” has been admitted to Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.
The patient, identified as Abul Bazandar, 25, hailed from Paikgachha of Khulna, is now undergoing treatment under supervision of Burn Unit Coordinator Dr Samanta Lal Sen, reported BBC Bangla Service on Saturday.
He has been suffering from the disease for last ten years. Some parts of his hands and legs now look like roots of trees. Once he was a driver of a rickshaw van. But he has to leave the job since last six years due to said illness.
“It was at first like a small tumour. It had started spreading after some days. I met village doctors, then I went to Khulna and Kolkata. But the disease did not stop. Now the doctors say it will need an operation,” Abul Bazandar said while talking with media at DMCH.
According to medical journals, epidermodysplasia verruciformis or colloquially called tree man illness. It is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder that affects human skin and increases the risk of carcinoma of the skin.
It causes abnormal susceptibility to human papillomaviruses [HPVs], which eventually leads to the overgrowth of scaly macules and papules, especially on the feet and hands. Although several types of HPVs contribute to this condition, HPV types 5 and 8 are most commonly associated with tree man illness.
These types are usually found in more than 80% of normal population but they aren’t reactive and don’t cause any symptoms either. The condition most often affects people between the age 1 and 20, but it may also hit middle-aged people as well.