Definition

Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is an uncommon, but potentially serious, illness. It almost always occurs in women using super-absorbent tampons during menstruation, but researchers are still not entirely clear what the connection is between this kind of tampon and TSS.

Description

Toxic shock syndrome first came to public attention in the 1970s when thousands of young women began to go to emergency rooms with a common set of symptoms. Those symptoms included high fever, vomiting, peeling skin, low blood pressure, diarrhea, and a rash resembling sunburn. Most of these women had one thing in common: they were all menstruating. And the majority were using a new type of tampon called a super-absorbent tampon.

The epidemic reached its peak between 1980 to 1984. During that period, about fifteen thousand people a year were diagnosed with TSS. About 15 percent of those who got the disease died of...