sampling in March 1978.
Both immediate follow-up periods extended through
September 1979, but a "final" long-term sampling follow-up is planned for
November 1980, possibly as a prelude to institution of long-term parasite-
suppressive efforts.
The treatment plan for the two atolls, though not theoretically ideal,
was based on logistical realities as to what would be attainable in the con-
text of health surveys and physician visits. Following initial stool surveys,
treatment with each agent was to be given at quarterly intervals to all inhabi-
tants of the respective atolls except pregnant women and children aged <2
years.
Follow-up surveys were to be conducted just before the third quarterly
treatment and 9 months thereafter.
On Rongelap the schedule was maintained,
but ship damage caused schedule alterations during the eradication/suppression
attempt on Utirik which resulted in some variation from the treatment/sampling
schedules
Table 1.
attained are shown in Table
1.
Sampling (S) and treatment (T) schedules on
Rongelap and Utirik Atolls,
1977-1979.
w
-
Ht
'
lrHeAaad
-
1
i
March
-m
1978:
June
September
January
Utirik
wn
1977;
Nn
Ronge lap
June
1979:
September
January
-
March
-
-
-
June
-
~
-
September
Sampling.
S
-
1
The actual
PraHAi
plan.
S
To the extent that they were in any way reachable, all inhabi-
tants of Rongelap Atoll were prevailed upon to submit stool specimens at each
sampling period. In spite of strong fecal taboos, samples were obtained from
at least 90% of the population by diligent follow-up of dispensed stool containers.
The larger population of Utirik (4300) precluded the possibility of
total sampling during the limited survey period.
Instead, a cohort of 20+% of
the population was followed to the extent possible, and was used as an index
of the population as a whole.
If cohort members were not present on the is-
land during a survey (away at school, on a visit, etc.), replacements were
picked at random to fill out the three categories:
adult males, adult fe-
males, and children. Again, diligent follow-up of dispensed containers provided the requisite population samples.
Processing of Specimens.
An aliquot of 0.5 to 1 g of each specimen
returned each day was put into an individually identified l-dram vial
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