W.H. ADAMS: LATE MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF EXPOSURE TO RADIOACTIVE
HEMATOCRIT -MALES
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YEARS POST -EXPOSURE
Figure 3.
The mean hematocrit, a measure of the degree of anemia in a community, has shown
no significant variation from control values. Top - Rongelap; middle - Ailingnae;
bottom - Utirik.
individuals have had a clinically significant depression of any cell type (8).
Hemoglobin/hematrocrit levels have been virtually identical to the unexposed (Figure 3).
Immunologic Status
In 1957 the first of several tests for evaluating the immune function of exposed Marshailese
was performed (16). The serologic responses to primary and secondary challengesof tetanus toxoid
were found notto be significantly different between exposed and unexposed persons, although the
range of titers was great, the numberof persons tested was small, and the primary response was
somewhat lower in the exposed. In 1959 complementfixation tests for a battery of viral and
rickettsial disease (including influenza, mumps, and adenovirus) were performed. The Rongelap
group had lower meantiters than the comparison group for most antibodies tested, Nosignificant
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