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(CNN) - German authorities are investigating the birth of three children with deformities on their hands in a city in the west of the country.
Sankt Marien Hospital in the city of Gelsenkirchen reported that three babies were born with “unilateral deformities in their hands” between June and early September of this year.
“In two of the affected children, the left hand was deformed; They had a normal forearm, but the palms and fingers were not developed. In another child, the right hand was affected; here too, the hand and fingers were undeveloped, despite having a normal forearm, ”the hospital said in a statement.
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The hospital said there were no "ethnic, cultural or social similarities" between the affected families that could explain the deformities, and said they all lived within the local area.
“We have not seen deformities of this type in many years. Multiple occurrences could be a random explosion. However, we believe that the brief period during which we have seen these three cases is surprising, ”said the hospital.
Statistically, between 1% and 2% of all babies are born with a deformity, the hospital said.
The case was revealed by Sonja Liggett-Igelmund, a midwife living in the city of Cologne in western Germany, who warned that many more babies could have been born with the same condition.
Liggett-Igelmund told CNN that he learned about the cases in Gelsenkirchen when he spoke with other midwives in online forums.
She said that while deformities such as these "occur", they are generally "very rare," and seeing three similar deformities within a few months was "too much."
"To me, it sounds like something much bigger," he said. “A midwife found a case throughout her career. Three in three months is not normal. ”
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Tracking cases is not easy
Since calling attention to the cases, Liggett-Igelmund said that many families from all over Germany had contacted her, whose children were born with similar deformities.
“All babies have the same deformities. Even my colleagues have told me about such cases, ”he told the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. "In general terms, all children have been born in the last three years, and many of them this summer."
Detecting trends in deformities among newborns in Germany is not easy, since there is no national registry. Liggett-Igelmund told CNN that creating a centralized registry is vital.
Sankt Marien Hospital noted that limb deformities during pregnancy can be caused by infections or toxins of various types.
Other possibilities, the hospital said, include constriction ring syndrome, when the amniotic sac fibers wrap around the fetus, causing deformities, or the umbilical cord is wrapped around the extremities of the fetus.
The German State Ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia told CNN that it takes reports of deformities in children "very seriously" and intends to contact all medical centers in the state to determine if they have registered similar deformities
"In addition, we are establishing contact with medical associations, the federal government and other federal states to investigate possible causes with due attention," he added. "It must be examined together to determine if a record is the right path."
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There was a similar French investigation last year
The latest cases in Germany follow a similar group in isolated rural regions of France last year, which led to a nationwide investigation.
In October 2018, the French health agency, Santé Publique France, found seven cases of limb deformity among newborns in three geographic areas, which had been identified by the regional birth defect registry.
Additional tests performed with hospital data in the Ain region, near the Swiss border, revealed another 11 cases, totaling 18 cases between 2000 and 2014.
Agnès Buzyn, health minister of France, warned that the cases could be caused by an "environmental problem."
“It could be what they ate or what they drank. It could be something they've inhaled, ”he told the French television station BFM TV.
New cases in Germany also recall the thalidomide scandal of the 1960s, when a drug created by the German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal to relieve morning sickness caused the deaths of thousands of women. Many children who survived exposure to the drug in the womb were born with limb deformities.
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