Every day, in the chronicle "The evils of everyday life", Doctor Jimmy Mohamed takes stock of a disease.
This Wednesday, he talks about toxic shock syndrome, a pathology that can occur in women during menstruation after using tampons.
He explains how to avoid it with a few tips.
In the section "the evils of everyday life" in "Sans Rendez-vous", Doctor Jimmy Mohamed takes stock of the daily ailments that can spoil life for a while, such as more serious pathologies. This Wednesday, he is interested in toxic shock syndrome, an infection that can affect women during their period after using tampons. He explains to us the causes and the solutions to avoid it.
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"Toxic shock syndrome is a rare infectious disease. It affects about one in 100,000 people. It is caused by a bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, and more specifically the toxin it synthesizes. Staphylococcus is present in humans. 30 to 40% of the time, in both young and old, and even in children, it is found in the nose and back of the throat, in the rectum, in the vagina and even on the skin.
As a rule, therefore, this staphylococcus is not dangerous.
But it happens, in a number of cases, that certain strains produce a toxin responsible for this shock.
A syndrome that nevertheless affects very few people.
A shock favored by a weak immune response
The immune field can be favorable to this syndrome. Regularly, women who develop this toxic shock are those who lack natural immune defenses against the toxin. In one in two cases, this toxic shock syndrome will be linked to heavy periods and in particular to the use of super-absorbent sanitary tampons. Using a tampon outside of your period or using a tampon that is not suitable for its flow can develop and promote the proliferation of this bacteria.
To limit the risk, we can recall a few simple basic rules.
You must wash your hands well before putting on a tampon and it should be changed regularly so as not to let it stagnate.
In general, it should be left for between four and eight hours.
And finally, avoid wearing one at night if possible.
Instead, use towels, especially for large sleepers.
Avoid the use of ultra-absorbent tampons
The other simple rule is that you should always wait until your period starts before using a tampon.
Don't put on a tampon in advance.
Finally, last tip, use tampons with the minimum absorbency necessary to meet your personal needs.
The risk of getting toxic shock syndrome is much higher with highly absorbent tampons. Especially since these tampons mostly contain plastic. So in general, if you wish, use period panties. "