Girl, 6, Loses Limbs to Rare Infection : Medicine: Amputations performed after bout with streptococcus bacteria. It’s the first case of its kind in a child in the United States, doctors say.

A streptococcus infection never before seen in a child in the United States invaded the body of a young girl with chicken pox and led to the amputation of her arms and legs, doctors at Children’s Hospital here said Wednesday.

“This is exceedingly rare,” said Dr. John Bradley, director of the division of the infectious diseases at the nationally known children’s hospital, where 6-year-old Jessica Lynn Esquivel was admitted April 1 with what was first believed to be an average case of chicken pox.

Shortly after being seen in the emergency room of the adjacent Sharp Memorial Hospital, the girl suffered a bloating of the ankles, a rise in temperature and, doctors said, the loss of blood to her arms and legs.

She experienced what Bradley called “full cardiac arrest,” in addition to kidney, liver and respiratory failure, before infusions of penicillin began to minimize the effects of the streptococcus bacteria. On April 18, feeling the chance of a related infection was minimal, doctors chose to amputate her legs at the knee and her arms at the elbow.

Bradley said the strain of streptococcus bacteria that infected Jessica and caused a toxic shock reaction has never been seen in children, although it has been reported in “dozens” of cases involving adults. Those are fatal “about 30%” of the time, he said.

“In 99.9% of the cases, chicken pox in children is very mild,” Bradley added.

Dr. Brad Peterson, director of critical care service at Children’s, who has worked closely with the Esquivel child, said he expected her to have full liver, kidney and respiratory recovery.