An 11-year-old Florida boy died of flesh-eating bacteria after spraining his ankle, NBC affiliate WESH reported Feb. 18.
The boy, Jesse, sprained his ankle and possibly cut it on a treadmill. He wore a boot for the injury, which kept it out of view from his family. A couple days later, they went to the ER because his leg was covered in splotchy, purply-red bruising and he had a fever, according to the report.
Jesse's parents were told group A strep infected the ankle injury. The strep then turned into flesh-eating bacteria.
"[His parents] had to bring him back a couple of times because his heart was doing crazy things. His organs were starting to shut down and they had to intubate him," Megan Brown, Jesse's cousin, told WESH.
Jesse died after he developed severe brain swelling.
Strep A is on the rise, according to the CDC. It often leads to secondary infections.