16-Year-Old Girl Dies From Toxic Shock Syndrome Related to Tampon Use

A 16-year-old girl in British Columbia died oftoxic shock syndromerelated to her tampon use, a coroner found.

Sara Manitoski was found dead on an overnight school trip in March 2017 near Vancouver Island, with an unknown cause of death.

Her friends left the cabin that morning for breakfast thinking that she was still sleeping, but when they returned she was still in bed with her alarm going off. Staff and students, along with emergency responders, attempted CPR on Manitoski but she did not recover.

Now, over a year later, the coroner has determined that she died oftoxic shock syndrome, based on the strain of staphylococcus aureusfound on a tamponthat was in her body. The report states that she also had other signs of TSS, but notes that tampons are not the only cause of the bacterial infection.

Sara Manitoski/Facebook

Toxic shock syndrome is extremely rare— in 2016 there were just 40 reported cases in the United States, and about half were not related to menstruating women, Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, an ob-gyn from Yale University andmember of PEOPLE’s Health Squad, told PEOPLE.

But when TSS does occur, it develops from toxins already present in the body.

Andwomen of younger agesare more susceptible to the disease.

“Younger women are more likely to get TSS, possibly because of more exposure through tampons or barrier contraceptive use,” Pinkerton said. “It may also be because they haven’t developed the antibodies yet.”

To reduce the chance of developing TSS, Pinkerton and Minkin recommend swapping out tampons every two to three hours, and avoid sleeping in them overnight. Additionally, it’s best to use lower-absorbency tampons to reduce dryness, and to switch off between tampons and pads.

However, Minkin said that women should not be overly concerned.

source: people.com