Tampons and Toxic Shock Syndrome

Toxic Shock Syndrome, or TSS, is related to the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), the symptoms of TSS are:

fever of 102F or higher;

flu-like illness;

skin rash, with peeling within 2 weeks after the onset of illness;

very low blood pressure (less than 90mm Hg for adults); and

involvement of three or more organ systems.

However, many women who have contracted the illness lacked one or more of these symptoms; some patients died before peeling had started, for example. Other cases appear to be mild versions of TSS. Most cases of TSS related to menstruating women occur in women under 30 years of age, and especially in teenage women. Estimates of the incidence of TSS are between 1 and 17 cases per 100,000 menstruating women per year in the U.S. Case fatality rates stand at about 6 percent.

Most cases of TSS in the 1980s were related to Proctor and Gamble's Rely tampon. P&G were the first company to be sued by a TSS survivor, who alleged that the company had known about the relationship between Rely tampons and the disease and had neglected to warn women about the risks associated with tampons.

Every North American tampon manufacturer except Purex (makers of Pursettes tampons) has been sued by at least one TSS victim.

Noted microbiologist and TSS expert Dr. Philip Tierno has examined terra femme tampons and reports that the TSST-1 toxin associated with TSS was not produced on terra femme tampons.

No health-related complaints have ever been registered against terra femme pure cotton tampons.

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