ANC S6S/7 RADIATION RESEARCH 108, 74-79 (1986) NEL VO. 4018475 2ZIX Serologic Markers for Hepatitis B among Marshallese Accidentally Exposedto Fallout Radiation in 1954 WILLIAM H. ADAMS,*' HOWARDA. FIELDS, JOHN R. ENGLE,* AND STEPHEN C. HADLERT *Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973 +Hepatitis Branch, Division of Viral Disease, Centersfor Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333 ADAMS, W. H., FIELDS, H. A., ENGLE, J. R., AND HADLER, S. C. Serologic Markers for Hepa- titis B among Marshallese Accidentally Exposed to Fallout Radiation in 1954, Radiat. Res. 108, 74~—79 (1986). At least one serologic markerof prior hepatitis B infection (hepatitis B surface antigen, antibody to surface antigen, or antibody to core antigen) was found in 91.7% of 314 Marshallese tested. The prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigenemia (3.3%) in a subpopulation that had resided on Rongelap Atoll at the time of accidental exposure to radioactive fallout from a thermonucteartest in 1954 did not differ significantly from the prevalence in a selected unexposed population (10.5%). © 1986 Academic Press,Inc. A high prevalence of hepatitis B infection has been reported in Asia and the Western Pacific (/-5). Herein is documented another Pacific population, that of the Re- public of the MarshailIslands, in which nearly universal serologic evidence of hepatitis B infection is present in adults. Against this background serologic markers of prior hepatitis B infection have been analyzed in a subpopulation of Marshallese which was accidentally exposed to radioactive fallout from a thermonucleartest in 1954. This was done because radiation-induced immunosuppression may determine, in part, the frequency and consequences of the chronic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier state. Data reported by the Radiation Effects Research Foundation suggest such a deleterious effect among Japanese atomic bombingsurvivors (6, 7). The Marshallese hepatitis B experience does not reveal a similar pattern. MATERIALS AND METHODS Theatolls of Enewetak and Bikini in the Marshall Islands were U.S. nuclear proving grounds from 1946 to 1958. In 1954, the populations of Rongelap and Utink atolls, numbering 253 including those in utero, were accidentally exposed to radioactive fallout from a thermonucleartest on Bikini atoll (8). Inhabitants of Rongelap received a whole-body gammaradiation dose of 110 to 190 rad; those on Utirik received approximately 11 rad. The thyroid-absorbed dose due to radioiodines was much higher (9, /0). Since 1954 the exposed populations have voluntarily received periodic medical examinations and treatment carried out by the Medical Department of Brookhaven National Laboratory under contract to the Atomic Energy "To whom reprint requests should be addressed. 0033-7587/86 $3.00 74 Copyright © 1986 by Academic Press, Inc. All nights of reproduction in any form reserved. REPOSITORY COLLECTION BN2, RECORDS. ISLANDS MARSHALL woxno, MEDICAL DEPT PUBLICAT 10MS ropen —UNLABELE an to: vet 44 . four we 4 t The Meedical Broo khaven Research Center National Laboratory Upton, L. L, New York