latest news on Thai Cobalt exposures

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

April 4, 2000

Cobalt 60 claims one more victim  

A 32-year-old woman was admitted to the intensive care unit of the 
provincial hospital here after being exposed to cobalt 60 radiation. 

The hospital's director Dr Wicharn Kerdwichai said Chanthip 
Petcharat, a former scrapyard employee, was found to have had an 
unusually low white blood-cell count.  

Since the leak in February, doctors three times conducted three 
different blood tests on residents of Soi Wat Mahawong in Samrong.  

Of six people put in hospital, three have already died.  

Dr Wicharn said Mrs Chanthip was among seven others found to have a 
low count in subsequent tests.  

Mrs Chanthip and another woman worked in the yard before the leak.  
-------

April 5, 2000

Concern for leak victims  

Five pregnant women are among 44 people who have shown symptons of 
radiation poisoning from the cobalt 60 leak, the director of Samut 
Prakan hospital said yesterday.  

The 44 included seven scrap collectors and scrapyard workers whose 
condition is serious, said Dr Wicharn Kerdwichai. Three people in the 
group had died already.  

Four others with a white blood cell count below 3,000/mg were being 
kept under close observation, and 25 of 1,000 people whose count was 
causing concern have started to show signs of recovery.  

Dr Wicharn said there was serious concern for the five pregnant women 
from Soi Wat Mahawong. A medical team has been set up to take special 
care of the women and to determine if their pregnancies will be 
terminated  for their own safety.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
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Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
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