Recovery of staphylococcal enterotoxin F from the breast milk of a woman with toxic-shock syndrome.
At 22 hr after an uncomplicated delivery of a healthy full-term infant, a 26-year-old woman developed toxic-shock syndrome (TSS). A vaginal culture yielded a coagulase-positive Staphylococcus that produced staphylococcal enterotoxin F (SEF) but no other enterotoxins. Breast milk specimens obtained on postpartum days 5, 8, and 11 contained 3.0, 2.5, and 2.0 ng of SEF/ml, respectively. Sera obtained from the mother on postpartum days 4 and 38 had titers (by radioimmunoassay) of antibody to SEF of 1:5 and less than 1:5, a result demonstrating a persisting lack of antibody to SEF after the first episode of TSS; the infant's serum titer of antibody to SEF on day 38 was also less than 1:5. Further longitudinal monitoring of SEF and antibody to SEF in breast milk from this patient is presented. This case is the first isolation of SEF from a body fluid obtained from a patient with TSS further strengthens the association between SEF and TSS.
D000328:Adult; D000992:Antitoxins / Q000032:analysis; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018089:Superantigens; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology
D000992:Antitoxins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; D018089:Superantigens; C030107:enterotoxin F, Staphylococcal