Mum ends up in ICU after contracting life-threatening infection from tampon - Today News

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For any copyright, please send me a message.  A mum ended up in ICU with septic shock after contracting a life-threatening blood from a tampon.   Greta Zarate, 32, developed flu-like symptoms on the first day of her period and was rushed to hospital when her fever spiked and blood pressure plunged.  After various scans failed to pinpoint the cause of her condition a vaginal swab revealed toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a potentially-fatal infection caused by bacterial toxins.   It sent Greta's body into septic shock, a stage of sepsis which causes blood pressure to drop dangerously-low and the body's vital organs to shut down.  The mum-of-five was shocked to discover the potentially-fatal bacteria entered her bloodstream through microscopic cuts on her vaginal wall caused by a super-absorbent tampon.    Greta, from the US city of Jacksonville, North Carolina, said: "I had heard of toxic shock syndrome but I never knew the symptoms.  "On the first day of my period, I was feeling a little crumby. I was in bed for three days.  "I believed I had the flu and I was treating myself with over the counter medication. I suffered all of the symptoms of TSS but I confused it for the flu - nausea and diarrhoea, dizziness, achy muscles.  "The only thing I didn't get was a rash which is often a symptom of it.  "But I was getting sicker and sicker. My fever was so high, I was shaky and weak."  After Greta's sister, a nurse, urged her to get to a hospital, she was rushed to A&E in an ambulance.  She said: "When I got to the hospital they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. My blood pressure was very low. I had X-rays and a CT scan.    "I was scared and extremely ill. I had a serious pain in my side because my spleen was swollen from trying to fight the infection.  "The only doctors they hadn't consulted was gynaecology and it was a blessing that one of the nurses thought that it might be toxic shock because I had my period. She put two and two together.  "They discovered it was a staph infection in my blood after taking a vaginal swab and it stemmed from microscopic cuts in my vagina from a tampon."  Greta was admitted to Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville on February 3 this year, where a line was inserted into her chest to administer antibiotics, fluids and morphine to fight the infection and manage her pain.  She underwent a blood transfusion to help restore her body's red blood cells and to prevent the further spread of the infection throughout her bloodstream.  Greta's husband, Cas Zarate, 30, a military logistics chief, rushed to be by her side as she battled her illness.  The stay-at-home mum said: "They said if I waited another day it could have had dire consequences.  "People who get toxic shock syndrome

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