Chinese Fish Boy Suffers From Rare Itchy Scale Disease

A young Chinese boy of eight is the victim of a rare genetic skin disease that causes thick itchy scales all over his body from head to toe.

The eight-year-old boy Pan Xianhang from the province of Wenling, China, is called the 'fish boy' by his neighbors because of the dense and painful cracking skin that is all over his body. He is diagnosed with a rare and inherited skin disorder known as 'ichthyosis' .

The boy is not only covered with scales but his facial features are also disfigured. Due to this rare genetic skin disorder he has restricted movements in his limbs and his skin does not sweat like that of a normal human thereby causing him to 'overheat'. Xianhag also faces the risk of secondary skin infections, which if left ignored and untreated could lead to systemic infections, reports the Examiner.

People who suffer from ichthyosis have dry, thickened, scaly or flaky skin and the skin resembles fish scales. There are five distinct types of inherited ichthyosis namely ichthyosis vulgaris, lamellar ichthyosis, epidermolytic hyperkeratosis, congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma and X-linked ichthyosis.  Ichthyosis vulgaris accounts for more than 95 percent of the cases. These victims are generally treated with creams and oils in order to hydrate the skin, source Wikipedia.

Xianhang's mother, who is desperately seeking medical help from doctors in the eastern province of Wenling, hopes to see her son sleep peacefully at night and go to school without itching. The fish boy gets immense relief when cold water or thick medicinal cream is applied over his cracked skin.

Xianhang is not the first kid to be detected with this rare and unusual disease. In 2010, a 14-month -old boy Song Sheng of Jinhu in eastern China, began developing scales within a few days of his birth and his skin started peeling away. A recent documentary 'A Boy They Call Fish' is the story of a Vietnamese teenage Minh Anh who was born with a severe form of Ichthyosis. On being abandoned by his family, Minh Anh was adopted by Brenda Smith, 78.

Data according to the Foundation for Ichthyosis and Related Skin Types (FIRST) state that in the United States, every year, at least 200 babies are born with a moderate to severe form of ichthyosis. The frequency of moderate to severe ichthyosis is 5-10 per 100,000 people in the United States. Each year, more than 16,000 babies are born with some form of ichthyosis. Currently, there is no cure for ichthyosis.