Toxic Shock Syndrome

Definition: Toxic Shock Syndrome

Toxic Shock Syndrome

Noun

1. Syndrome resulting from a serious acute (sometimes fatal) infection associated with the presence of staphylococcus; characterized by fever and diarrhea and nausea and diffuse erythema and shock; occurs especially in menstruating women using high-absorbency tampons.

Specialty Definition: Toxic shock syndrome

Toxic shock syndrome is a rare but potentially fatal disease caused by a bacterial toxin. (Different bacterial toxins may cause toxic shock syndrome, depending on the situation, but most often streptococci and staphylococci are responsible.)

The number of reported toxic shock syndrome cases has decreased significantly in recent years. Approximately half the cases of TSS reported today are associated with tampon use during menstruation, usually in young women. TSS also occurs in children, men, and non-menstruating women. In 1997, only five confirmed menstrually-related TSS cases were reported, compared with 814 cases in 1980, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Although scientists have recognized an association between TSS and tampon use, the exact connection remains unclear. Research conducted by the CDC suggested that use of some high absorbency tampons increased the risk of TSS in menstruating women. A few specific tampon designs and high absorbency tampon materials were also found to have some association with increased risk of TSS. These products and materials are no longer used in tampons sold in the U.S. Tampons made with rayon do not appear to have a higher risk of TSS than cotton tampons of similar absorbency.

Vaginal dryness and ulcerations may occur when women use tampons more absorbent than needed for the amount of their menstrual flow. Ulcerations have also been reported in women using tampons between menstrual periods to try to control excessive vaginal discharge or abnormal bleeding. Women may avoid problems by choosing a tampon with the minimum absorbency needed to control menstrual flow and using tampons only during active menstruation.

External links

Toxic Shock Syndrome and Tampons at the McKinley Health Center website
Streptococcal Toxic-Shock Syndrome: Spectrum of Disease, Pathogenesis, and New Concepts in Treatment - a 1995 paper on TSS

The original version of this article was taken from the public domain U.S. FDA document at http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/tamponsabs.html which was last updated in 1999. Please revise as necessary.

Commercial Usage: Toxic Shock Syndrome

Photo Album: Toxic Shock Syndrome

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Associated with outbreak of toxic shock syndrome. Credit: CDC.		Toxic Shock Syndrome is so rare you might forget it can happen... Credit: National Library of Medicine.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Non-Fiction Usage: Toxic Shock Syndrome

Subject	Topic	Quote
Health		Schuchat A, Broome CV. Toxic Shock Syndrome and Tampons. (references)
		Gavanta S. Reingold AL, Hightower AW et al., Active surveillance for toxic shock syndrome in the United States. (references)
		Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), causes blood pressure to drop rapidly and organs (e.g., kidney, liver, lungs) to fail. STSS is not the same as the "toxic shock syndrome" frequently associated with tampon usage. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Toxic Shock Syndrome

Misspellings: Toxic Shock Syndrome

Anagrams: Toxic Shock Syndrome

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "c-c-d-e-h-i-k-m-n-o-o-o-r-s-s-t-x-y"
	-5 letters: chondriosomes.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Alternative Orthography: Toxic Shock Syndrome

Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

54 6F 78 69 63 53 68 6F 63 6B 53 79 6E 64 72 6F 6D 65

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01010100 01101111 01111000 01101001 01100011 00100000 01010011 01101000 01101111 01100011 01101011 00100000 01010011 01111001 01101110 01100100 01110010 01101111 01101101 01100101

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#84 &#111 &#120 &#105 &#99 &#32 &#83 &#104 &#111 &#99 &#107 &#32 &#83 &#121 &#110 &#100 &#114 &#111 &#109 &#101

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0054 006F 0078 0069 0063 0053 0068 006F 0063 006B 0053 0079 006E 0064 0072 006F 006D 0065

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

Domain	Title
References	The Official Patient's Sourcebook on Toxic Shock Syndrome (reference) (more reference examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Expression	Frequency per Day
toxic shock syndrome	400
toxic shock syndrome symptom	26
streptococcal toxic shock syndrome	4
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Toxic Shock Syndrome

Definition: Toxic Shock Syndrome