[Toxic shock syndrome in 8 children].

OBJECTIVE

Evaluation of patients with toxic shock syndrome (TSS) in a paediatric hospital.

DESIGN

Retrospective analysis.

SETTING

Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

METHOD: Analysis of the medical records on 155 patients admitted between January 1982 and January 1992 suffering from shock, 8 of whom had TSS.

RESULTS

Five out of 8 TSS patients were under 5 years of age. All the patients needed mechanical ventilation. All patients survived. In 7 patients a probably causative focus of infection was found. The cultures of 6 patients showed growth of Staphylococcus aureus, those of 2 patients showed Lancefield group A beta-haemolytic streptococci (bacterial culture in one, increased antibody titer in the other). Systematic phage typing was not performed.

CONCLUSION

Although TSS is a relatively rare disease in young children, it is a potentially lethal one, early recognition of which is very important.