Illinois girl suffers deadly toxic shock syndrome caused by a TAMPON after swimming in the Ozarks

A middle-school girl has been hospitalized with a deadly reaction after swimming in the Ozarks with a tampon inserted. 

Kelci Anthony of Pittsfield, Illinois, was on the car journey home from the family vacation when she began feeling nauseas but brushed it off as travel sickness.

In reality, toxins were coursing through her bloodstream, attacking tissue and organs. It was the early stages of toxic shock syndrome.

Within hours, her blood pressure fell to dangerously low levels, her fever shot to 103F, and she broke out in a red rash. She had to be rushed to the pediatric ICU to prevent her body from shutting down.

Ashley Anthony, Kelci's mother, said: 'She had multiple organ failure. Our girl was dying. A parents worst nightmare.

Kelci assumed her nausea was simple car sickness and brushed off what would become the first symptom of a potentially deadly illness

After interviewing the family and tracing back her steps, doctors said they believed Kelci had suffered a bacterial infection contracted from lake water. 

‘She had contracted Toxic Shock Syndrome, not from misuse of tampons, but because she wore one while swimming in the Lake at the Ozarks,' her mother said.

Staphylococcus aureus bacteria cause most cases of toxic shock, though it can also be caused by the bacteria that causes strep throat.

These bacteria also grow in warm, freshwater settings, including lakes and rivers, and have been detected in the Ozarks and the Great Lakes, including the beaches around Lake Erie. 

'The dirty water had absorbed through the string and the bacteria in the water caused Staph Infection, which led to the Toxic Shock Syndrome. She had also become septic (causing the shutdown),' her mom continued in a heartfelt Facebook post.

Bacteria entering the body is what causes toxic shock, and leaving tampons in for too long greatly increases this risk. 

Tampons, especially high-absorbency ones, create a warm, hospitable environment for bacteria to grow. When a tampon is left in for more than eight hours, bacteria has a longer amount of time to multiply. 

Swimming in contaminated water, as was Kelci's case, can also cause staff to enter the body, either through the vagina or cuts on a person's skin. 

Inserting and removing tampons can also cause cuts on the vaginal walls, which can become entry points for harmful bacteria that infuse the bloodstream with toxins.  

Staff also lives on the skin and inside the nostrils of many healthy people without causing harm. It's part of a healthy natural balance of bacteria that live on the skin. 

But once in the body, the S. aureus bacteria permeates the bloodstream and infects bodily tissues, which can also lead to tissue death and necessitate limb amputations.

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When staph infects the body, the body launches a massive immune response which drives up inflammation in the body, worsening symptoms like fever and muscle aches.  

Toxic shock can be deadly due to the breakneck speed at which it ravages the body and ramps up the immune system. 

Severe drops in blood pressure caused by shock can mean inadequate blood flow to vital organs such as the heart and kidneys, causing widespread damage. 

TSS can also cause mini blood clots to form in the bloodstream, further reducing blood flow to organs. 

And the heart may struggle to pump blood effectively due to the severe drop in blood pressure, potentially leading to cardiovascular collapse.  

TSS comes on quickly, causing fever, muscle aches, a rash, flu-like symptoms, and organ damage.

Prompt diagnosis and treatment is crucial for preventing death due to toxic shock, which can be fatal in 30 to as much as 70 percent of cases. 

Mrs Anthony posted about her daughter's ordeal in the hope of helping other young girls and their mothers look out for signs.  

Their harrowing experience began while having summer fun at Lake of the Ozarks, a mountain range that stretches across Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

Her mother Ashley said that Kelci had gone into organ failure and sepsis, but doctors now say she'll make a full recovery

Mrs Anthony and her husband Tim [shown] called her daughter’s ordeal ‘a parents worst nightmare.

Anthony says her daughter’s decline stemmed from using tampons, not from misusing them, but from bacteria the tampon absorbed while Kelci was on the lake

The family spent three days there, swimming and enjoying the outdoors. 

On the way home, Kelci assumed her nausea was simple car sickness and brushed off what would become the first symptom of a potentially deadly illness. 

Feeling unwell, Kelci went to stay with her mom during her shift as a surgical tech at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital. In the early morning hours, she came down with a high fever and took ibuprofen at home.

The following day, she awoke to use the bathroom and immediately blacked out. Kelci and her mother immediately went to an urgent care center, where doctors tested for strep throat and covid.

While both tests were negative, Kelci’s blood pressure was dangerously low, and her heart rate abnormally high, so it was recommended that they go to the emergency department.

The ED at Jacksonville Hospital immediately put Kelci into a bed. But when she began turning red, they sent her to St. Johns Children’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois.

Mrs Anthony said: ‘We got to St Johns and they put her on the General Pediatric floor, but only for about 30 minutes and then very quickly transferred her to the PICU unit.

‘At this point her BP was 79/44 and her HR 160. Her temp was 102 (medicated) and she looked sun burnt. After lots of testing, 3 IVs, 1 arterial line and 1 central line and an extremely long night….we figured out what was wrong with our girl.'

Her red skin due to the body's intense immune response to the bacterial toxins is what tipped doctors off that it was toxic shock syndrome.

In this instance, blood flow to the skin increases when blood vessels dilate and fluid leaks into surrounding tissues, causing a sunburn like rash.  

Doctors mmediately got to work, administering five antibiotics, medication to increase blood pressure, and IV fluid infusions. 

Kelci was told she would not be able to use tampons again, because she likely now has a lifelong heightened sensitivity to toxins produced by S. aureus. And even if a person does not show symptoms, the bacteria can linger in the skin and mucous membranes, increasing the odds of recurrence when she uses a tampon again.  

Doctors expect Kelci will make a full recovery, according to her mother, Ashley.

The nurses and doctors were ‘wonderful,’ Mrs Anthony said, adding that they constantly stayed by Kelci’s side from early Saturday through 4.30am Sunday.

She said: ‘The original thought was she would be in here until the 20th at least. Today, we are trying oral meds to make sure she tolerates them. If she does and her infection and heart levels are still down trending…WE GET TO COME HOME!!!!’