4ORL ES | oe TN y (fe SLVs Cze5 Li. A Summary of the Medicai Statue of the Harahailese as of March 1958. ns feur Years After Exposure to Sailout Aladiation. The four-year ennual medical survey of the people of Aoncelap Atoll, Harshail islands, who were expesed to radioactive fallout in March, 1954 was completed in March, 1958. dn 1& wan wedicel tean was transported te Renselan by Kavy 1.3T for the examinations. Cemplete history anc physical examinations, including growth and development studies in the children, tematoicricat cuaminations, ova art parasite survey, and whole body geama spectroscopy for body burden of isoe topes were carried cut, The cata nas sot yet been therougniy gnaiyzec, and only a few brief preliminary statexents can ba made at this tine in regard to the latest examinations. The people were found te be generaily in good health and their setcition satisfactory. A few residual changes acre 3¢132 present in the skin of some people at the former sites of more severe deta burns. aut these changes were nonesymptomatic and characterized only by miid atrophy, scarring, and nignent aberrations, malignant changes have been seen. No evicence of any preemalignaat cr Since cegrowth of hair, no further evi- Gences of exilation have dcen noted, Sxceut for tha akin changes there haye been no cutwnrd evidence of any radiation effects. There have vecn ho sy=ptom or diseases that could be related te radiation effecrs. The incidence of diseases wag found ta be about the same in the irradiated as in the unirradiated Marshallese people used for conparcison. There have been threc destha in the irradiated group. could the cause of death be associated with radiation effects, In 20 case This inci~ dence of death arpears to be about the same ag in unexposed Karshalicae peeplc. BEST COPY AVAILABLE