Strep Throat Complications: Ohio Girl, 6, Nearly Dies And Needs Leg Amputation After Infection
Six-year-old Tess Puma of Ohio nearly died and ended up losing her leg to a strep throat infection. Doctors believe that an initial strep infection led to necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacterial infection, that eventually caused her leg to be amputated. Tess’s case is the second in only a few months to demonstrate the potentially deadly complications from an otherwise common infection.
When Tess was diagnosed with strep throat she received routine antibiotics to treat the infection and her parents thought that was the end of her ordeal. However, several weeks later Tess began to complain of flu symptoms and sore arms and legs. It was then that the kindergartener was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, ABC News reported.
Read: Rare Strep Throat Infection Nearly Kills Man, Turns Hands And Feet Black
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, necrotizing fasciitis is a rare but serious bacterial infection that spreads quickly and kills the body’s soft tissue. The bacteria releases toxins inside the body that cause tissue to rot and die. In Tess’s case, the infection spread to her left leg, shoulder and back. Eventually the young girl lost all function and blood flow in her leg, and doctors were forced to amputate it below the knee in order to save the rest of her body.
Doctors believe the bacteria from Tess’s strep throat travelled through her bloodstream and infected other parts of her body. In s worse case scenario, the infection could have killed the young girl. However, ABC News reported that Tess is now recovering well at Akron Children’s Hospital.
Last month, a Michigan man went through a similar ordeal after his strep throat infection travelled down his throat and infected his stomach. In an effort to save Kevin Breen’s life, stomach and major organs, his body directed blood flow away from his limbs and towards his vital organs, WOOD TV reported. Unfortunately, this caused his hands and feet to die and turn black. They will eventually need to be amputated. However, like Tess, Breen is simply happy to be alive and have survived the near-death experience.
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