Tonight my guests were Mandy and Daniel Scott, talking about toxic shock syndrome. Their story is particularly heartbreaking as Mandy’s daughter, sister of Daniel, died two years ago on Valentine’s day from TSS.

You may have heard of it before, but would you recognise the symptoms? TSS is an extremely rare but potentially serious illness that can affect anyone.

Toxic shock syndrome is a type of blood poisoning that will make you feel severely ill very quickly. It can affect men, women and children.

TSS is caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which normally live harmlesssly on the skin. In rare cases, certain strains of this bacteria can produce toxins that cause TSS. Most doctors will never even see a case of it. There are approximately 40 cases diagnosed each year, and, sadly, out of those two or three people die each year.

A proportion of the cases are associated with women and girls using tampons; the remainder result from localised infections following burns, boils, insect bites or surgery. Some TSS cases are associated with burns or scalds that damage the skin’s defences allowing bacteria to grow and develop toxins.

The symptoms are:

sudden high fever/ temperature, vomiting, sunburn-like rash, diarrhoea, fainting or feeling faint, muscle aches, dizziness, confusion

Consult your doctor at once if you experience some of these symptoms, and you suspect something could be seriously wrong. With early diagnosis TSS can be successfully treated with antibiotics and other medicines.

For more information look on the TSS website: www.tssis.com  or email: tssiscontact@gmail.com