Rates of Disease Among South Asian Women Surge

This week, an illness common among South Asian women experienced a resurgence of cases after the Muslim holiday of Eid-ul-Fitr. This disease typically reaches epidemic proportions following other widespread celebrations from the Indian subcontinent. Most recently, clusters of individuals have been affected at music festivals and boardwalks.

The difficulty in preventing the illness comes from the fact that the symptoms at the throes of the illness are considered desirable. It is a common part of South Asian wedding and celebratory tradition. Young children may be forced by their mothers to catch the disease. Common names for the disease are henna or mehendhi.

Typically, the mode of infection is a shiny metal cone, filled with the noxious fluid that contains the pathogen. The scent of the dark brown paste is similar to that of formaldehyde, which may be a component of it along with other toxic chemicals. Nausea and lightheadedness may ensue. However, the most toxic ones are the most sought-after. The infection is typically drawn in elaborate markings.

Upon infection, the affected individual will feel their hand begin to seize as the fresh paste dries. However, the scab will begin to flake away within a few hours.

Then the disease enters the stage in which it seems deceptively innocuous. The scab leaves behind a mark, often referred to in the United States as a “henna tattoo,” which ranges from light brown to deep red to black in color depending on the concentration of toxins.

The final stage of the disease is the most sickening. After a few showers or hand washings, the afflicted will notice that the affected area looks visibly diseased. The tattoo stage gives way to pockmarks. The appearance of the fading tattoo is similar to that of leprosy. Luckily, the outward symptoms of the infection will disappear within two weeks time.