In Belgium, Maëlle, 17, died of toxic shock related to the use of a tampon. Admitted to hospital last week, she was initially treated for gastroenteritis.
Maëlle, 17, will not have survived. Thursday January 9, the teenager from Somzée, a Belgian town near Charleroi, died of a toxic shock, probably caused by the use of a sanitary tampon.
On Facebook, her mother Laurence Honstru posted a final tribute to her daughter. “My angel, my pride has gone to the stars. You who dreamed of traveling around the world, here you go on a very long journey”, she wrote.
Diagnosis too late
As Laurence Hénuy told the RTBFthe first symptoms of toxic shock syndrome (SCT) from which Maëlle suffered appeared Monday evening, January 6, when the young girl had just returned from the gym. Feverish and vomiting, Maëlle was examined by the doctor on duty, who diagnosed her with gastroenteritis.
“Throughout Tuesday, the symptoms persisted. The medical diagnosis does not cause us to be unduly alarmed. But in the evening, Maëlle begins to have vision problems. I take his blood pressure: 5.3. I call the ambulance, but the paramedics remain on the same diagnosis, flu. Same thing at the hospital. My daughter suffers from severe dehydration, she is taken to another hospital, to intensive care. And that’s when he was diagnosed with toxic shock. It is already too late”, continues Laurence.
Today, Maëlle’s mother would like to better inform womenbut also the doctors, on this rare and serious disease which has claimed several victims in recent years. In question: the diagnostic wandering surrounding the toxic shock syndrome, because the symptoms are too often taken for those of a banal infectious disease, such as the flu or gastroenteritis. According to her, most doctors admitted that they were “not aware and that it rarely happened”. “But it still happened to my daughter, and I was told by a staff member in intensive care that it wasn’t that rare,” she insists.
What is toxic shock syndrome?
Toxic shock syndrome is a rare infectious disease, which affects around 1 in 100,000 people and is caused by a bacterial toxin. This toxin is usually introduced into the blood by a pathogen, and is one of the virulence factors associated with Staphylococcus aureus.
This bacterium is naturally present in 30 to 40% of women, men and children in the nose, back of the throat, rectum, vagina and skin and is generally not dangerous. However, sometimes certain strains of the bacteria produce a toxin that can cause TSS in a very small number of people.
This is the case in women who have not developed immune defenses against the toxin. In one out of two cases, TSS is linked to menstruation and in particular to the use of super absorbent sanitary pads. Indeed, using a tampon outside the rules or of a tampon size that is not adapted to its flow can promote the development of the bacteria.
What are the symptoms of toxic shock syndrome?
Initially, the symptoms of TSS resemble those of a severe flu:
– a high fever, from 39° to 40.5°
– low blood pressure
– skin rash (erythroderma) like sunburn and peeling
– damage to so-called target organs: the digestive tract for example, with vomiting, watery and profuse diarrhoea; or mucous membranes (pharynx, eye, etc.) that are very inflamed; or the central nervous system (confusion, obtundation, etc.).
In the event of the appearance of these symptoms, it is urgent to consult a doctor, to whom it is necessary to clarify the suspicion of TSS.
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