Down Syndrome Cases in Ireland Investigated

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

Note:  At least one individual has ruled out radiation exposure as 
the root cause (2nd paragraph) .. a first!
Tuesday November 14 1:25 PM ET
Down Syndrome Cases in Ireland Investigated 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An unexplained cluster of six Down 
syndrome children born to women who attended a small girls' school in 
Dundalk, Ireland probably represents a chance occurrence, researchers 
report. 
``Previous suggestions that an influenza epidemic or contamination 
from the Windscale nuclear reactor fire might be implicated, both of 
which occurred in October 1957, can be effectively dismissed,'' 
according to Dr. Geoffrey Dean from the Health Research Board in 
Dublin, and associates. 
The investigators examined the rate of Down syndrome births in 
Dundalk and surrounding areas in an effort to determine the possible 
cause of the unusually high rate of Down syndrome in children born to 
women who had attended St. Louis' Secondary School for Girls between 
1956 and 1957. 
The overall Down syndrome birth rate among these women was nine times 
higher than expected, the researchers note, but the Down syndrome 
birth rate in the surrounding area was not statistically higher than 
expected. 
The only well-established risk factor for Down syndrome is increasing 
age of the mother, the report indicates, a factor that was not 
present in these mothers. Five of the births were to mothers under 30 
years of age. 
Any exposure that might be responsible for this unusual cluster of 
Down syndrome cases would have to be highly localized in order to 
affect only girls attending this particular school, the authors point 
out. And no such exposure has been identified, despite a thorough 
search. 
``We have been unable to find a plausible common cause of the cases 
constituting this cluster, and details of the individual cases 
suggest that there may not be one,'' Dean and colleagues conclude. 
``We are unable to rule out chance as being wholly or principally 
responsible, and this may well be the most reasonable explanation.'' 
SOURCE: Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2000;57:793-804.


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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
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