A lethal flesh-eating bacteria caused the death of an 11-year-old boy who sustained an ankle injury on a treadmill.
Jesse Brown, 11, who resided with his parents in Winter Park, Florida, north of Orlando, died less than two weeks after being diagnosed with the rare and fatal illness known as Group A Strep or iGAS.
The death of the child occurred following a CDC report that noted an increase in the number of kids infected with Group A Strep in the United States.
On January 16, Brown sprained his ankle on a treadmill. He loved to participate in numerous BMX and motocross competitions and he enjoyed riding motorcycles.
His parents said that he woke up on January 22 with a strange rash on his thigh, approximately five days after he injured his ankle. They said he was covered in red and purple bruises. The boy’s organs were failing within a few days, according to his doctors.
The bacterial infection became flesh-eating necrotizing fasciitis and caused the boy’s brain to swell.
After being intubated, on January 27 Brown passed away.
The CDC estimates that between 14,000 and 25,000 confirmed cases of Group A Strep infection occur annually, resulting in 1,500 to 2,500 deaths.
This month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded an increase in iGAS infections. According to the study, the COVID-19 pandemic saw a dramatic drop in infections, most likely due to social isolation and lockdown measures. According to verifiable occurrences, however, the number of infections returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022.
Dr. Todd Husty, the medical director of Seminole County, stated that if a person develops symptoms that are more severe than those of a sprained ankle or a wound, they should immediately go to the emergency department and have the wound examined, particularly if they are experiencing a fever.
Among the warning signals indicated by the CDC are excruciating pain, fever, a quickly expanding swollen or red region, a change in skin color, and vertigo.