views
PRELIMINARY STATFMENT OF THE MEDICAL SURVEYS OF THE RONGELAP.
POSURE TO
< MARCH 1963, NINE YEARS AFTER
AND UTIRIK PEOPLE
FALLOUT RADIATION
In March 1963 a medical survey team consisting of 10 physicians and
technicians representing the Atomic Energy
Commission and 10 from the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands, visited the Rongelap and Utirik atolls and
carried out a medical survey of the people who had been exposed to fallout
radiation in 1954,
An unexposed group on Rongelap who served as a comparison
population were also examined,
Since complete analysis of the data will take
months, the following preliminary statement is made at this time,
On arrival of the team in the Marshall Islands, a serious epidemic
of poliomyelitis Type I, with many paralytic cases, was in progress,
However,
the epidemic had been brought under control by widespread immunization with
Sabine oral vaccine,
There were 22 cases among the Rongelap children with
varying degrees of paralysis and the disease had also affected three adults
on the island with one death from bulbar paralysis of a 67 year old woman in
the exposed group,
Fortunately the people of Utirik were spared the epidemic,
Gi otherwise the medical examinations of both Rongelap and Utirik people revealed
they were generally in good health and appeared to be in a better state of
nutrition and with less skin disease than has been noted previously,
About
the same incidence of diseases was noted in the exposed population as in the
unexposed comparison population, [Nocases of cancer, leukemia or other diseases
believed to be enhanced by radiation exposure were noted,
No evidence of any
malignant change in the residual radiation (beta) burns of the exposed
people was noted,
In several cases, these areas of the skin showed further
development of pigmented (mole-like)
serious complications,
detailed study,
Rongelap
changes, which however are not considered
A number of biopsies of the skin were obtained for
Several children in the exposed Rongelap group continued to
show slightly retarded growth and development but otherwise appeared to be
healthy,
mouIVES
sx