Parents in Spain were recently shocked to see that their babies were growing furry facial hair — resulting from a botched medication mixture, they later learned.
The remedy they thought would treat their infant’s indigestion had been tainted with a medicine to treat alopecia — a hair loss condition. As a result, 16 babies developed hypertrichosis, otherwise known as “werewolf syndrome,” a condition in which hair grows all over their bodies, the Daily Mail reports.
The indigestion medication, omeprazole, was made by Farma-Química Sur, and was part of a formula for babies. Spanish health officials say the medicine was contaminated at its source in India. They learned of the contamination when 13 parents came forward to report the hair-growth symptoms in July, followed by three more last month.
It has since been taken out of circulation and Farma-Química Sur has had its license suspended.
Fortunately, the symptoms will be reversed once the babies stop taking the medication.
Although rare and curable, hypertrichosis can make life difficult for those who can’t afford treatment, like now 15-year-old Bithi Akhtar of Bangladesh.
The Raut sisters, Savita, 30, Monisha, 25, and Savitri, 23, of Sangli, a small village in central India, also spoke about the impact the condition had on their lives. “Marriage is not an option for us; it’s not likely to happen,” Savita said in 2012. “Who is going to marry us when hair keeps growing on our faces?”