A Florida boy has died of an infection that originated from a nondescript ankle injury on a treadmill.
Jesse Brown, 11, rolled his ankle on a treadmill at a gym on January 16, according to his cousin Megan Brown.
Megan told USA Today that six days later, Jesse awoke to find a “crazy rash.”
“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.”
After his parents brought him to the intensive care unit at a local hospital, Jesse was diagnosed with a Group A Streptococcus bacterial infection that has become necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating virus that causes swelling of the brain.
On January 27 after doctors had to intubate him, Jesse Brown died of the infection. Now his family just wants his story told.
“In my mind, I was in complete disbelief,” Megan said. “I was like, ‘This could never happen to our family.’ If there was more awareness, maybe we could have caught it earlier.”
Anyone who believes they have an iGAS infection should seek medical care immediately, according to CDC guidelines. They also report that being up-to-date on chickenpox and flu vaccines can lessen the chance of contracting an iGAS infection.
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