TABLE 2.
Characteristics of menstrual cups and their effects on S. aureus growth and TSST-1 productiona
| Product | Composition | Diam/ht (cm) |
S. aureus |
TSST-1 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean bacterial count (CFU/ml) ± SD | P value | Mean concn (ng/ml) ± SD | P value | |||
| Medium alone (positive control) | 2.5 × 109 ± 0.2 × 109 | 73.9 ± 8.5 | ||||
| Cups | ||||||
| be'Cup | ||||||
| Size 1 | Silicone | 4/4.5 | 1.1 × 109 ± 0.3 × 109 | 0.001 | 50.6 ± 8.5 | 0.03 |
| Size 2 | Silicone | 4.5/5 | 4.4 × 109 ± 1.1 × 109 | 0.001 | 87.3 ± 4.1 | 0.001 |
| Me Luna | ||||||
| Size S | TPE | 3.8/4.5 | 5.7 × 108 ± 4 × 108 | <0.001 | 87.3 ± 4.1 | 0.043 |
| Size M | TPE | 4.5/5 | 7.6 × 108 ± 2 × 108 | 0.001 | 108.7 ± 23.2 | 0.03 |
a
TPE, thermoplastic elastomers. Values are means ± standard deviations (n = 3 to 8). Student's t tests were used to compare bacterial CFU and TSST-1 concentrations in the presence of cups to the values for the control.