Cases of Menstrual Toxic Shock Syndrome in the Czech Republic in 1997–2022

Abstract

Staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a serious condition that can be life threatening. There are two forms of this disease: menstrual and non-menstrual. In the 25 years from 1997 to 2022, 105 cases of TSS related to menstruation were registered at the National Reference Laboratory for Staphylococci of the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) in Prague. All the patients recovered, but one third of the them had a severe course of the illness including intensive care unit admission reported in their discharge summaries. All the patients except for one had a history of vaginal tampon use, in the remaining one it was a menstrual cup.