Rongelap. Duringthat year the health aide was
visited frequently-~femaxpper respiratory intections
(nearly everyone had at least one cold during the
vear). Gastroenteritis was also a frequent complaint.
group are compared with those in the unexposed
group in Tables 3 and 4. Since anv radiation-induced genetic imperfections that might result in
nonviable offspring might be present in the germ
plasm of the father as well as the mother, two un-
exposed women mated to exposed men are in-
cluded in the exposed group. Four children born
in 1954 were excluded from the list because thev
had been conceived before the accident.
Table 3 and Figure [0 showthe vearly inci-
“REVIEW OF DATA ON MORTALITY
AND PREGNANCY TERMINATION
OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS
dence oflive births and miscarriages and the sex
Mortality
The four deaths that have occurred in the ex-
posed Rongelap people during the past 6 vears
give an annual rate of 8.1 per 1000 population.
The Marshall Islands annual rate is reported as
6.8 per 1000. The unexposed Rongelap popula-
tion has had four deaths also, which gives a rate of
8.3 per 1000. These figures do not include fetal
and infant mortality. The people of Utirik Island,
who received about 14 r of radiation in the 1954
accident, have shown death rate of about 10tol!
_ per 1000 population. Their population has varied
between 160 and 213 people since the event.
Pregnancy Terminations
of babies born of women of child-bearing age in
the exposed and unexposed groups. Under the
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 toinspect the products of miscarriage. Figure 10, a plot of the percentage incidence
of miscarriage in the two groups, indicates that it
is somewhat greater 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 1937
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
\
---+
EXPOSED
UNEXPOSED
Table 4
70
PERCENT
Rongelap Exposed (1954-1959)
and Rongelap Unexposed (1956-1959)
Fo
Exposed
Women giving birth to living
children
Women with miscarriages* but
no live births
Women with no recorded
pregnancies
Women with | or more
miscarriages
- Women with 2 or more
miscarriages
Pregnancies terminating in
miscarriages
\
60 +
\
JS
%
Unexposed
6+
66
18
ei
18
a
22 ~
41
28
l4
11
35
23
*Includes children dyingfirst few hours after birth.
{185561
MISC / TOTAL: PREGNANCIES
qT
@
o
\
Summaryof Pregnancy Termination Data,
_
reported in this group for 1959. Only one was re-
\
wf
y 2/8
op
|
|
During 1958 six miscarriages and stillbirths
were recordedin the exposed group, but none was
278
05 |
|
9954
t
EXPOSURE
55
56
37
58
39
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
women are incomplete prior to 1956.