Linked to the improper use of tampons or menstrual cups, toxic shock syndrome (TSS) can lead to serious sequelae. To prevent this rare but serious risk, the health authorities give their recommendations.
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While on January 9, a Belgian teenager died following a toxic shock due to the wearing of tampons, the National Health Security Agency (ANSES) published, Monday, January 20, an opinion additional to its report on the safety of protections intimes de 2018. The agency is asking manufacturers to better educate healthcare professionals and users of periodic protections about the risks of infection. This risk, called toxic menstrual shock syndrome (TSS) “Concerns periodic internal protections (tampons, menstrual cups, etc.)”, specifies ANSES. Twenty women are victims of SCT each year in France, but the number of cases declared is less than the reality, observes the health authority. This disease caused by a bacterial infection with staphylococcus aureus, affects only women carrying the staphylococcus strain involved in menstrual TSS, that is 1% to 4% of the female population. In the latter, a significant development of the bacteria can then lead to the production of a toxin which passes into the blood. This risk is mainly due to the fact that internal protections such as tampons or menstrual cups have the effect of blocking the flow of blood flow.
Information too often missing
The Agency therefore insists on the need to respect the hygiene rules related to the use of these protections, in particular not to exceed the maximum wearing time and to wash your hands before each change of protection.
[Toxicshock[Choctoxique#SCT]The@Anses_fr recalls the importance of respecting the rules of hygiene linked to the use of periodic internal protection, in particular over the duration of wearing and the need to adapt your protection to your menstrual flow.
➡ https://t.co/smlwwcJLjX pic.twitter.com/x6GyfZ6g0g– Anses (@Anses_fr) January 21, 2020
At the same time, it highlights the insufficient information on the part of manufacturers who, all too often, do not mention these recommendations for use on packaging and omit – especially for menstrual cups. “More recently arrived on the market” – alert women to this risk. And even if “In the current state of knowledge, the SCT is not linked to the material used in the composition of these protections”, recognizes ANSES, it once again asks industrialists “To eliminate or minimize the presence of chemicals” found in their products. ANSES deplores that” he does not exist (in the European Union, editor’s note) specific regulations governing the composition, manufacture or use of personal protection products “, like the United States, where periodical protections are considered medical devices and not everyday consumer goods.
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