Postpartum toxic shock syndrome: a report of a case

Abstract

We describe a case of a 29-year-old Japanese woman with toxic shock syndrome which occurred 6 days after a normal vaginal delivery. This is the second case of postpartum toxic shock syndrome in Japan, so far as we know. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from the uterine cavity. The isolate was coagulase type II and it produced both enterotoxin C and toxic shock syndrome toxin-1. The clinical course and laboratory data for this patient were in conformance with previously reported typical postpartum toxic shock syndrome, except for the onset time after delivery, because the previously reported postpartum TSS cases were clearly divided into two groups, early onset within 3 days of delivery and late onset 2 or more weeks after delivery.