| • | described exclusively in patients with AIDS |  
 | • | postulated to be a variant of TSS, caused by similar bacteria, yet modified by host factors |  
   
like TSS (toxic shock syndrome):   
| • | diffuse macular erythema, ocular and oral mucosal injection, strawberry tongue, delayed desquamation |  
 | • | but less aggressive:  natural history is that of prolonged illness (mean duration = 50 days) vs. TSS (abrupt, fulminant disease) |  
  
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