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Acute Radiation Syndrome

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Radiation sickness, known as acute radiation sickness (ARS), is a serious illness that occurs when the entire body (or most of it) receives a high dose of radiation, usually over a short period of time. Many survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs in the 1940s and many of the firefighters who first responded after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident in 1986 became ill with ARS.

People exposed to radiation will get ARS only if:

• The radiation dose was high (doses from medical procedures such as chest X-rays are too low to cause ARS; however, doses from radiation therapy to treat cancer may be high enough to cause some ARS symptoms),
• The radiation was penetrating (that is, able to reach internal organs),
• The person's entire body, or most of it, received the dose, and
• The radiation was received in a short time, usually within minutes.

The first symptoms of ARS typically are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. These symptoms will start within minutes to days after the exposure, will last for minutes up to several days, and may come and go. Then the person usually looks and feels healthy for a short time, after which he or she will become sick again with loss of appetite, fatigue, fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and possibly even seizures and coma. This seriously ill stage may last from a few hours up to several months.

People with ARS typically also have some skin damage. This damage can start to show within a few hours after exposure and can include swelling, itching, and redness of the skin (like a bad sunburn). There also can be hair loss. As with the other symptoms, the skin may heal for a short time, followed by the return of swelling, itching, and redness days or weeks later. Complete healing of the skin may take from several weeks up to a few years depending on the radiation dose the person's skin received.

The chance of survival for people with ARS decreases with increasing radiation dose. Most people who do not recover from ARS will die within several months of exposure. The cause of death in most cases is the destruction of the person's bone marrow, which results in infections and internal bleeding. For the survivors, the recovery process may last from several weeks up to 2 years.

If a radiation emergency occurs that exposes people to high doses of radiation in a short period of time, they should immediately seek medical care from their doctor or local hospital.

For more information about radiation and emergency response, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website at http://www.bt.cdc.gov or contact the following organizations:

• The CDC Public Response Source at 1-888-246-2675
  
  
• The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors at (502) 227-4543
  
  
• The Environmental Protection Agency
  
  
• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-8200
  
  
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can be reached at (202) 646-4600.
  
  
• The Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site at (865)-576-3131
  
  
• The U.S. National Response Team
  
  
• The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at 1-800-dial-DOE
  
  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) protects people's health and safety by preventing and controlling diseases and injuries; enhances health decisions by providing credible information on critical health issues; and promotes healthy living through strong partnerships with local, national, and international organizations.