3
No gross abnormalities of bone marrow smears
were reported at 6 months post exposure.
Depression of peripheral blood elements in the
Ailingnae and Rongerik groups was not so pronounced as in the Rongelap group. However, 2
slight lag in complete recovery in the Ailingnae
peripheral blood count has also been noted.
The persistent depression of peripheral blood
elements in the exposed people makes it appear
likely that there is slight residual bone marrow
of these deaths and radiation exposure. Four deaths
have occurred in the comparison population. The
four deaths that have occurred in the exposed
people since exposure represent a mortality rate of
7.1 per 1000 population, compared with 8.3 for
the Marshall Islands as a whole.
Growth and development studies on the chil-
A generalanemic tendency has been evident in
both exposed and unexposed Marshallese. Price-
were under 12 years of age at the time of exposure,
damage.
Jones curves, on the average, showed a slight
microcytic tendency. Serum iron levels have gen-
erally been normal, and the cause of this anemic
tendency has been undetermined.
Reticulocyte counts have been about the same
in the exposed as in the unexposed people.
Except for radiation-induced lesions of the skin,
patchy epilation, and early gastrointestinal symp-
toms, clinical examinations have revealed no dis-
ease processes or symptoms which could be related directly to radiation effects. No prophylactic
or specific therapy of radiation effects was ever considered necessary or given. Epidemics of chicken
pox and measles that occurred showed no greater
incidence or severity in the exposed than in the
unexposed Marshallese people.
During the first months post exposure abouthalf
of the exposed group exhibited loss of weight of
several pounds. This may possibly have been related to their radiation exposure, although it is
difficult to rule out effects possibly due to change of
environment.
At 3 years post exposure the immune response
to primary and secondary tetanus antitoxin was
tested and found not to be significantly different
in the exposed compared to the unexposed popu-
lations.
Four persons in the exposed population died of
disease: (1) a 46-year-old man with a hypertensive
heart disease which had been present at the time
of exposure, who died 2 years after the accident;
(2) a 78-year-old man who died, 3 years after exposure, of coronary heart disease complicating
diabetes; (3) a 35-year-old man who died of acute
varicella, 4 years after exposure, who had received
only 69 r, having been on Ailingnae at the time of
the fallout; and (4) a 60-year-old woman whodied
of a cancer of the ovary at 5 years after exposure.
There was no apparent relationship between any
dren (height, weight, anthropometric measurements, radiographic studies for bone age) have
revealed that slight retardation in growth and development has occurred in the exposed boys who
particularly those 12 to 18 months of age at exposure. Only slight immaturity was noted in the
exposed female children. It was also noted that
children born of exposed parents were slightly
retarded and that they had slightly lower levels of
neutrophils, lymphocytes, and platelets, compared
with male children of unexposed parents.
It was difficult to evaluate the effects on fertility.
However,a review of the birth rate of the exposed
group over the past 7 years seems to indicate no
noticeable effect of their exposure on fertility. The
31 births represent a rate of 54 per 1000 population, compared with 37.3 for the MarshallIslands
(1957). The 21 births over a 4-year period for the
comparison population represent a rate of 72 per
1000 population. A somewhatgreater incidence of
miscarriages and stillbirths was noted in the ex-
posed women during the first several years after
exposure, but because of the paucity of vital statistics on the Marshallese and the small number of
people involved, the data are not readily amenable
to statistical analysis.
A cardiovascular survey of the adults (1959)?
showed no outstanding differences between the ex-
posed and unexposed groups. The people appeared
to have less hypertension on the whole than is noted
in people in the continental United States.
An arthritis survey (1959)* showed no greatdif-
ferences between the exposed and the unexposed
people, and about the same incidence as is seen in
American populations.
Ophthalmological surveys showed no remarkable
differences between the exposed and unexposed
groups except possibly a slightly greater number
of cases of pterygia, pingueculae, and corneal scars
in the exposed group. It is not known whether this
finding is of any significance in relation to their
radiation exposure. Slit-lamp observations showed
no opacities of the lens characteristic of radiation
exposure. As a whole, visual and accommodation