,
.
408
CONARD:
Were seasick?
EISENBUD:
CONARD:
DASA 2019-2
Were nauseous from seasickness.
Yes, I think that was the original interpretation, but
it soon became apparent that none of the Alingirae, the other group
that received less exposure, showed the sickness and since oniy
the heavily expose
Rongelap group showed the sickness it was ap-
parent that it was radiation-induced. The blood elements showed
considerable depression, down to one-half and more below normal
levels, but, fortunately, they didn't get low enough in the Marshzllese
people to cause any real evidence of infection or bleeding; we used
no specific treatment and none of them chowed any signs of acute
radiation sickness as such.
In the case of the Japanese fishermen, some of their blood ele-
ments dropped even lower than in the Marshallese, indicating perhaps
a higher dose in some of them. But] would not say, looking at the
blood werk, that any of them received greater than 500 rad because
the depression didn't seem to reach levels that would substantiate that.
EISENBUD: What allowance can you make, Bob, for the fact that
they received a dose over a 14-day period?
CONARD: I agree that that certainly would
But most of the dose that the Marshallese and
received occurred during the first 24 hours, {
it, and «o it was really more in the acute type
tion.
moderate the effect.
the Japanese fishermen
weuld say over half of
of exnosure classifica-
There was a slight weight loss in quite a few of the Marshallese
people and we were not sure whether that was due to their radiztion
exposure or to the fact that they had a change of environment and
were eating different (ypes of food, although they seemed to eat it with
great relish. The Japanese, as I mentioned earlier, were given multiple
transfusions over a number oi days soon after they arrived in Japan,
and shortly thereafter quite a few of them developed infectious hepatitis
and jaundice and then, of course. one fisherman died in Sepiember.
It would seem to most of us in this field that his death was most likely
due to the bload transfusions that he had received.
DUNHAM: His periphera! blood picture just about returned to normalin July, before he died, The jaundice came on at about that time
and he died with essentially a normal blood picture. At least the total
count was in the normal range.