'Both my daughters almost died within days after using "super plus" tampons'

17 November 2023 , 16:50

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Jaya Johnson, 17, in hospital with septic shock (Image: Kennedy News and Media)

A mum has told how her two daughters nearly died within days of each other - after both using 'super plus' tampons.

Javon Johnson says her daughter Devine Johnson, 21, spent a week in intensive care after falling ill on May 26 last year - before learning she had developed sepsis from toxic shock syndrome (TSS) caused by a tampon. The 46-year-old feared she was going to lose her second-eldest daughter as she says her organs were at risk of shutting down. However she described the horror 'deja vu moment' when she too had to relive the ordeal just 30 days later as her second daughter Jaya Johnson, 17, developed the same infection after using a tampon from the same box.

The mum-of-six says she couldn't believe her 'bad luck' when Jaya received the same diagnosis on Independence Day weekend (July 2). Javon, from Elkhart, Indiana, US, says both girls had symptoms of a viral infection, with nausea, high fevers, and redness on the palms of their hands, which Javon mistook for heatstroke when Jaya fell ill during a family holiday to Florida.

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Poor Jaya was sick for days following the incident (Kennedy News and Media)

Jaya Johnson in hospital with septic shock in Florida (Kennedy News and Media)

The childcare business owner says she was told by doctors that her daughters' infections were caused by the 'higher potency chemicals' in super plus-absorbency tampons. Javon is now calling on other mothers and girls to pay attention to the different sizes of tampons, advising those with light cycles not to use the super plus variety of the sanitary product.

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Javon said: "We honestly thought we were going to lose them [the girls]. They were both in really bad shape. It was a touchy situation because their organs were inflamed and at risk of shutting down. We were watching the monitors constantly. My husband and I just stood there in shock.

"We couldn't believe this had actually happened to us again. What are the odds? We just got one kid out of the ICU, who is still recovering, and now we've got another kid who was about to start this process again, but she looked worse. It was touch and go the first time and now we're doing it again. My husband and I are grateful because both of them survived it."

Devine Johnson, who developed septic shock from a tampon last year (Kennedy News and Media)

Javon Johnson at home in Elkhart, Indiana (Kennedy News and Media)

Javon says Devine had just finished her period when she developed symptoms similar to a cold, before ending up in the emergency room (ER) two days later after she was unable to walk without help. And when her blood tests revealed Devine had septic shock, she was treated in an intensive care unit (ICU) for seven days before being told by the family doctor at a follow-up appointment that the infection was caused by a tampon.

A month later, Javon says her third-eldest daughter fell in on a family holiday to Florida to celebrate Independence Day (July 4) - but the family assumed Jaya just had heatstroke. After she deteriorated, Javon says Jaya was sent home from the ER with ibuprofen for a viral infection, but she soon required an ambulance to take her back to hospital after she passed out.

Javon says Jaya was on her period and had recently used a tampon for the first time - from the same box as Devine had done just a month before.

Javon said: "It was a deja vu moment when we got the same diagnosis for [Jaya] just 30 days later. We couldn't enjoy our holiday. My husband and I were at the hospital around the clock. We could not leave her. They diagnosed Jaya while she was in the hospital because she was on her cycle but she did not have a tampon in.

Javon Johnson and her husband Demond Johnson with their six kids (Kennedy News and Media)

"She had only used tampons for the very first time in the last two days. We were in Florida on a family vacation and she just wanted to use it to go swimming. The doctors said she had used the super plus absorbency when she didn't need to. They contain a different kind of chemical with a higher potency, and she shouldn't have used that.

"Devine had always used them. I don't know if it was this particular package, as they did use the same box. It was more to do with the chemicals than the length of time they had them in for. They both didn't sleep with them in."

Javon says the ordeal left her daughters weaker and physically slower - and now claims she no longer allows any of her five daughters to use tampons.

Javon said: "The recovery was slow as they were very weak and it took a lot out of them.

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"Their stamina was slower. It has now been about a year and they've gotten better, but initially they had to do things very slowly. Thank god neither one of them needed physical therapy, they just move slower.

"They don't use tampons anymore. The family doctor and the doctor in Florida said they can't use them. They're not sure why but they don't think they can handle the potency of the tampons. He reckons they never will. I'm worried it could happen to my other daughters. Nobody can use them so we don't keep them in the house.

"I wish people would pay attention to the different kinds of tampons. There are regular and super and super plus, but if you don't really need the super plus, don't use them. We were told by the infection control doctor in Florida that if you have light cycles you don't need a super plus.

"I would just not recommend tampons at all at this point. I advocate to [other mothers] not to use tampons at all as they're not safe to use. I didn't think people would believe it happened to two of my girls within 30 days of each other in the same year. That was unrealistic odds."

Bethan Finighan