11-year-old Florida boy dies from flesh-eating infection after spraining ankle on treadmill

11-year-old Florida boy dies from flesh-eating infection after spraining ankle on treadmill

An 11-year-old Florida boy is dead after he developed a flesh-eating infection following a treadmill injury.

Jesse Brown of Winter Park, just north of Orlando, died less than two weeks after he developed a deadly Group A Strep (iGAS) infection, his family told USA TODAY Friday.

His death comes on the heels of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting an uptick in iGAS infections among children in the United States in 2022, as infection numbers returned to roughly pre-pandemic levels.

The boy's cousin, Megan Brown, said Jesse sprained his ankle on a treadmill at a gym on Jan. 16.

She said he woke up with "a crazy rash" on Jan. 22.

"His leg was covered in splotchy, purple and red, almost like bruises," she said. "It came on so fast... in just a matter of days it shut down all his organs."

The boy was admitted to a hospital where doctors learned he developed the infection caused by the Group A Streptococcus bacteria, Brown said. The infection became the flesh-eating necrotizing fasciitis and caused the boy's brain to swell.

He died on Jan. 27, Brown said after doctors had to intubate him.

Group A strep bacteria can cause a variety of illnesses, the CDC notes.

According to the CDC, iGAS infections include necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (SSTS). STSS is a rare, but serious bacterial infection that can develop very quickly into low blood pressure, multiple organ failure, and even death.

hours ago

I thought you needed an open wound to get these lethal infections. An ankle sprain does not normally result in an open wound. They can also enter the body through the nose or mouth, but again I can't make a connection to the ankle sprain.

18 hours ago

I don't see how anyone could get an infection of any kind from spraining their ankle. Not from the sprain. Maybe from contact with the treadmill, though he was probably wearing shoes. Maybe if he was wearing shorts and fell when he sprained his ankle, the bacteria could have gotten onto his bare leg. Or maybe it wasn't connected to the treadmill or the gym at all. He's in Florida, so it could have been from swimming, which is how most people seem to get this.

17 hours ago

When I was a kid I used to worry every time I cut myself, or got a scratch. Back in those days people would talk about tetanus, and lockjaw from infection.I guess those types of urban legends can come true. I feel for the family here of the child. Condolences.

17 hours ago

I guess I'm not sure how this could even happen. If you "sprain" your ankle, doesn't that mean the skin isn't broken, and how could you contract something like this without it entering the bloodstream? And 6 days later before symptoms showed up? Are they sure about this? I'm so sorry for the boy and his family, sounds like a terrible thing to have happened, but I'd like more info. Would it have helped to have wiped down the equipment? Isn't gym equipment usually wiped down after each person uses it anyway?

18 hours ago

A sprain is a closed wound... so how did the infection enter the body?

18 hours ago

People don’t clean their equipment after use. You see it all the time in gyms. Sweat all over the machines and the delta bag just walks away without even a glance back at the machine. Gyms are nothing but a breeding ground of disease and germs.

18 hours ago

How do you get a bacterial infection from a sprained ankle?