Florida Keys 2-year-old died of sepsis due to a strep infection, autopsy report says

A 2-year-old Florida Keys boy whose death at first brought concerns of meningitis from state officials died of sepsis due to a strep infection, according to an autopsy report released Monday.

Kato Lee Worley died March 6 after becoming unresponsive due to fever and upper respiratory symptoms while being taken to the hospital, according to the report by Monroe County Medical Examiner Michael Steckbauer.

The boy had a group A streptococcal infection, Steckbauer determined.

The bacteria streptococcus can cause many different infections, according to the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention.

Some are minor infections like strep throat. Others are less common but can be deadly, the CDC says.

Worley was born June 5, 2017, and lived on Big Pine Key, according to an obituary published by the Johnstonian News in Kenly, North Carolina.

He was the son of James Nicholas Worley and Rebekah Joy Dunaj. A memorial service was held March 14 at The Keys Vineyard Community Church on Big Pine.

Initially, the Florida Health Department in Monroe County said Worley could have possibly died from bacterial meningitis.

On March 26, Steckbauer ruled out meningitis and also the novel coronavirus as causes of death, but said he would wait until toxicology reports were complete to release the autopsy report.

Worley had attended a child-care center on a Key West Navy base.

Naval Air Station Key West shut down its Childcare Development Center, located on Sigsbee Park Annex, after the boy’s death and hired an outside agency to disinfect the building.

The child-care center caters to children from 6 weeks to 5 years old.

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.