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Post by Crossdresser on Jan 7, 2016 12:48:54 GMT -5
Originally posted in September 2015, Yahoo reposted this article on December 30th, 2015 as one of their best of 2015 about the 2014 death of Jemma-Louise Roberts, suspected to be caused by TSS:
news.yahoo.com/13-year-old-dies-from-using-1262473630326838.html
The story was originally reported in the British media, such as:
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/please-learn-signs-toxic-shock-10104748
www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/mum-teen-who-died-after-6490037
www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3244442/Teenage-swimmer-13-dies-toxic-shock-syndrome-caused-tampon-doctors-mistook-vomiting-stomach-bug.html
In September, Britain's National Health Service reported a spike in the number of hits to their TSS introduction page after the story was covered by the British media:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/toxic-shock-syndrome/Pages/Introduction.aspx
There apparently was no post mortem conducted, so these accounts are not up to the standard of a medical journal article. I also don't know if the tampons sold in the USA are safer than those sold in the UK, making them less risky. But like the police chief telling people not to drink and drive on New Year's Eve, its worth repeating the warnings about Toxic Shock Syndrome. While we don't know the particulars in this case, what bothers me is that there are some people who just don't read instructions. They just rip open the package they just bought and use the product. Well, tampons are not like Alka-Seltzer, where you take it after eating too much and don't think about it until weeks or months later, when you overeat again.
While searching for this story, I came across Jemma-Louise's twitter account page from 2012. Sad. really sad. |
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Post by kayo on Jan 13, 2016 15:31:53 GMT -5
TSS is still being studied because there doesn't seem to be a real agreement as to what causes it. I'm not a doctor (duh) but I do know that super-absorbent tampons are a common element in all the tampon-related TSS cases. So is it the chemicals in the tampon, or the fact that biologically degraded menstrual fluid is kept in contact with sensitive membranes for too long a time? This is why, as Crossdresser says, reading the instructions is important. But advertising that lets women believe there is no risk is also to blame. Anything it might say in the instructions is forgotten, you remember the ad and think that's all there is to it. My opinion is that tampons are safe. It's the way they are used that can lead to infection. We all know that bacteria live everywhere. In small doses our bodies are more than capable of dealing with them. In large doses, in a concentrated area, for long periods of time.... it just makes sense to me to change the tampon often. www.thefrisky.com/2015-09-25/teens-death-from-toxic-shock-syndrome-raises-symptom-awareness-but-we-should-be-talking-about-tampon-regulation/ |
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Post by padtastic on Jan 14, 2016 5:10:57 GMT -5
I seem to recall that the super-absorbent tampons of the 80's were changed after the last spike in TSS to be less absorbent and use different absorbent materials. Specifically, I believe rayon was removed as it was believed that the combination of rayon and menstrual blood was to blame for TSS at the time. Of course, it's obviously been proven that it's not just rayon that can cause TSS, (although it may be a factor that makes it worse,) but I'm not sure if the UK made the same changes as the removal of rayon was a US thing. Whatever it is, super-absorbent tampons seem to be the culprit every time a TSS story appears.
Crossdresser, unfortunately you raise a very true point about reading instructions. People just ignore that they even exist until they have a problem, and in the case of tampons, (which have TSS warnings printed on the outside of the box in the US that people also tend to ignore,) that can have fatal consequences as in the tragic situation mentioned above. Tampons are regulated by the FDA as a medical device for internal use in the US, but that doesn't make TSS just magically go away. There's only so much that can be done if people aren't going to read product instructions before using a product. Tampons need to be treated like medication precisely because they're used internally. I think it needs to be pointed out to people that you wouldn't just take a handful of pills without reading the dosage instructions, so you shouldn't just use a tampon without reading its instructions either. What also worries me is that I know women who specifically use super-absorbent tampons so they don't have to change them as frequently, especially if they wear them overnight. (Despite the warnings not too, they don't seem concerned about any potential complications from this.) When I ask if they're at least a little concerned that they might get TSS from this, their response is usually "it hasn't happened yet, but if I start to feel sick I'll take the tampon out and buy some pads." At this point I feel like the message isn't getting through: once you start to feel sick it might be too late, and shouldn't you want to take preventative measures against a potentially fatal illness, even if it means changing your tampon a little more frequently? Thankfully this isn't an issue for my tampon-hating girlfriend who only uses pads and "external protection," but there are other women who just don't even care that the tampons come with instructions in the first place. While I realize that some people read the instructions, (my best friend not only read them, she follows them,) many more women don't, just as many people don't read the instructions for things in general, even when failing to do so can be incredibly dangerous.
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