Toxic Shock

Dear Eva,

I fell asleep with my tampon in around 7pm last night and forgot to take it out until about noon today. I have been checking my temperature and everything seems normal, but I am afraid I might have TSS! What do I do?

- Worried


Naturally, for my more concerned readers, I responded to this question via email before I posted it to the blog. ;)

Worried,

The Mayo Clinic indicates that TSS almost always begins with a fever (often in excess of 102F), with headache, diarrhea, sore throat, vomiting, stomach cramps, fainting, and aching muscles. A red rash may appear all over your body and then lead to peeling of the skin over the next several days, like a sunburn. If you have a fever or these other symptoms make you believe you may have TSS, go to the doctor immediately! TSS is potentially fatal.

If you are not experiencing symptoms, it is not likely that you actually have TSS. Sleeping with a tampon in does not automatically mean that you will contract this disease, and here's why!

Toxic Shock Syndrome from tampons is a disease which occurs when prolonged tampon use allows certain bacteria to grow to dangerous levels within the vagina. The main cause of tampon-related TSS is the bacteria Staphylococcus Aureus, one strain of the illness commonly referred to as 'staph'. Though this bacteria is commonly found in the vagina, it may possibly become dangerous when a tampon promotes a warm, moist environment in which it can grow.

The US Center for Disease Control observes that, "The increased risk associated with high absorbency tampons is also poorly understood; high absorbency may be a surrogate for another effect." It is unfortunate but true that the connection between tampons and Toxic Shock Syndrome is not understood and is under-researched.

Dr. Philip M. Tierno, Jr., director of clinical microbiology and diagnostic immunology at New York University Medical Center and Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City, has done extensive research on the issue of tampons and TSS, and was quoted in the article by Joanna Citrinbaum in The Daily Collegian. He offers:

"Most tampons prior to 1977 were made of cotton," he added. "Post-1977, many manufacturers were trying to address a complaint that women were suffering from menstrual byproduct. Women wrote in, saying, 'make the product more absorbent.' [...Companies] had to use synthetic ingredients other than cotton. They succeeded in making a product that was very absorbent. But the vagina was affected by synthetic products and not the cotton."

It was the presence of this synthetic fibres that increased the presence of the staph bacteria. Tierno is of the opinion that companies, in order to lessen the damage done and perhaps prevent their products from being pulled from shelves, insisted that the dangerous levels of bacteria were the fault of women's misuse of tampons, rather than a result of the tampon's materials themselves.

Althugh most of the dangerous synthetic fibres have been removed from tampons, lessening the risk of toxic shock syndrome, any time there is an environment which is friendly to bacteria (like the moist and rich environment of a tampon) there is a danger that this bacteria may become overgrown.

Only three cases were reported to the US Center for Disease Control in 1998. The illness is rare and treatable with IV fluids and antibiotics.

If you are concerned about TSS, ensure that your tampons are made from unbleached cotton fibres, or you may even consider using a sea sponge tampon! These products are generally available from your local natural foods store, or you can support this blog by buying from Amazon.com via this link:



- Eva

World AIDS Day

Today, December 1st, is World AIDS Day. I would encourage all of you readers to take the time to look over the official World AIDS Campaign website here: http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/static/en/

- Eva