Claim: Living mostly in the vagina of women, the toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 is a water-soluble protein toxin, heat-resistant, and can be boiled for more than an hour without any direct effect on its function.
Evidence: The toxin in S. aureus infections is TSS Toxin-1, or TSST-1. This bacterium strain that produces the TSST-1's can be found in any area of the body, but live mostly in the vagina of infected women. It has been shown that TSST-1 can be boiled for more than an hour without any presence of denaturation or direct effect on its function. TSST-1 is resistant to heat and proteolysis. Even though TSST-1 consists of several hydrophobic amino acids, this protein is highly soluble in water.