Toxic shock associated with tampon usage

A case of a 30-year-old woman who developed fever, diarrhoea and vomiting during the third and fourth days of menstruation, during which she was using tampons, is presented. The patient was admitted to hospital on the fifth day in shock , semicomatose, and with a generalized erythroderma. A presumptive diagnosis of toxic shock syndrome was made. Aggressive resuscitative and antibiotic therapy achieved a favourable outcome. An unused tampon from the same packet grew a Staphylococcus aureus of the same antibiogram and phage type as that isolated from the vaginal culture.