17 Rongelap. During-that year the health aide was visited frequently for upper respiratory infections (nearly everyone hadat least one cold during the year). Gastroenteritis was also a frequent complaint. REVIEW OF DATA ON MORTALITY AND PREGNANCYTERMINATION OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS group are compared with those in the unexposed group in Tables 3 and 4. Since anyradiation-induced genetic imperfections that mightresult in nonviable offspring might be present in the germ plasm of the father as well as the mother, two unexposed women mated to exposed men areincluded in the exposed group. Four children born in 1954 were excluded from thelist because they had been conceived before the accident. Table 3 and Figure 10 show the yearly incidence oflive births and miscarriages and thesex Mortality The four deaths that have occurred in the ex- posed Rongelap people during the past 6 years give an annualrate of 8.1 per 1000 population. The Marshall Islands annual rate is reported as 6.8 per 1000. The unexposed Rongelap population has had four deathsalso, which gives a rate of 8.3 per 1000. These figures do not includefetal and infant mortality. The people of Utirik Island, whoreceived about 14 of radiation in the 1954 accident, have showna deathrate of about 10to 11 per 1000 population. Their population has varied between 160 and 213 people since the event. Pregnancy Terminations of babies born of womenof child-bearing agein the exposed and unexposed groups. Underthe category of miscarriages are includedstillbirths and babies dying a few hoursafter birth. It was unfortunate that in most cases it was not possible for physicians to inspect the products of miscarriage. Figure 10, a plot of the percentage incidence of miscarriage in the two groups, indicates that it is somewhatgreater in the exposed group. The data on pregnancy terminations, summarized in Table 4, also show an increased incidence of mis- carriage in the exposed group. The birth rate in the Marshall Islands in 1957 was 37.3 per 1000 population. The 24 live births ported for each of these years in the unexposed women. Pregnancy terminations in the exposed 100 r 904 8OF Table + 7O Fr PERCENT Summary of Pregnancy Termination Data, Rongelap Exposed (1954-1959) and Rongetap Unexposed (1956-1959) % Exposed Womengivingbirth to living children Women with miscarriages* but no live births Womenwith no recorded pregnancies Womenwith | or more miscarriages Womenwith 2 or more miscarriages Pregnancies terminating in miscarriages : ; %o Unexposed 64 66 18 ll 18 22 41 28 14 11 35 23 *Includes children dying first few hours after birth. tl ‘ \ | ~--- EXPOSED \ UNEXPOSED \ MISC / TOTAL PREGNANCIES \ \ \ 4 \ 3/5 \ A \ a fo \ a \ 1 / V 4 5 \ 6sta / ‘ 7 2/8 2/8 \ 7 \ 4 7a \ v5 \ 1/6 lO F \ 5 \ \ 0 res 2/6 \ 20 - 7 / \ sor 7 ™. f \ 40 4 \ 6OF 50 ae During 1958 six miscarriages and stillbirths were recorded in the exposed group, but none was reported in this group for 1959. Only one wasre- 1 | i, 4 1 55 56 S57 58 59 EXPOSURE \ors | 60 YEAR Figure 10. Incidence of miscarriages and stillbirths in exposed Rongelap women.Stillbirths include babies living only a few hours after birth. Data on unexposed womenare incomplete prior to 1956.