17
year). Gastroenteritis was also a frequent complaint.
REVIEW OF DATA ON MORTALITY
AND PREGNANCY TERMINATION
OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS
Mortality
The four deaths that have occurred in the exposed Rongelap people curingae past 6 years
give an annualrate of 8.1 per
fU00 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 notincludefetal
and infant mortality. The people of Utirik Island,
whoreceived about 14r of radiation in the 1954
per 1000 population. Their population has varied
between 160 and 213 people since the event.
Pregnancy Terminations
plasm of the father as well as the mother, two unexposed women mated to exposed men are included in the exposed group. Four children born
in 1954 were excluded from the list because they
had been conceived before the accident.
Table 3 and Figure 10 show the yearly incidence of live births and miscarriages and the sex
of babies born of womenof child-bearing age in
the exposed and unexposed groups. Underthe
category of miscarriages are included stillbirths
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 thatit
is somewhat greater in the exposed group. The
data on pregnancy terminations, summarized in
Table 4, also show an increased incidence of miscarriage in the exposed group.
The birth rate in the Marshall Islands in 1957
was 37.3 per 1000 population. The 24 live births
During 1958 six miscarriages and stillbirths
were recorded in the exposed group, but none was
reported in this group for 1959. Only one was reported for each of these years in the unexposed
women. Pregnancy terminations in the exposed
T
100 -
30 F
80 F
Table 4
FOF
Summary of Pregnancy Termination Data,
Rongelap Exposed (1954-1959)
and Rongelap Unexposed (1956-1959)
%
Exposed
Womengiving birth to living
children
Womenwith miscarriages* but
no live births
Womenwith no recorded
pregnancies |
Womenwith | or more
miscarriages
Womenwith 2 or more
miscarriages
Pregnancies terminating in
miscarriages
PERCENT
wa
accident, have shown a deathrate ofabout 10to!1
group in Tables 3 and 4. Since any radiation-induced genetic imperfections that might result in
nonviable offspring might be present in the germ
%
Unexposed
64
66
18
11
18
22
41
28
14
11
35
23
*Includeschildren dyingfirst few hours after birth.
60
TT
T
——
—T
iI
‘
\
\
4
--~~- EXPOSED
4
UNEXPOSED
MISC / TOTAL’ PREGNANCIES
4
\
\\
\
4
\
\
\
F
3/5
\
A
\
\
\
50 +
\
40-
/
\
30
20
\
1
/
/
/
/
t
\
\
7
2/6,/
\
ye
4
4
\ 6/14
‘
/
/ 2/8
2/8
144
2
\
—L
t954
55
EXPOSURE
15 4
t
1/6
10
oO
- ey
(nearly everyone had atleast one cold during the
group are compared with those in the unexposed
\
i
1
1
a
56
57
58
59
\
4
\
\os
60
YEAR
Figure 10. Incidence of miscarriages andstillbirths in
‘ exposed Rongelap women. Stillbirths include babies
living only a few hours after birth. Data on unexposed
womenare incomplete prior to 1956.
pm d
Rongelap. During that year the health aide was
visited frequently for upper respiratory infections