DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE EXCESS OF ACU TE-LEUKEMIA INCIDENCE AMONGCHILDREN LIVING IN BRYANSK TERRITORY

12 cases of ALL, 2 cases of ANLL and 3 cases of NHL have been register ed among children aged 0-15 living in 6 Bryansk territory regions expo sed to radionuclide contamination after the Chernobyl accident. The st udy covers the period from 1986 to 1991. There was an excess of acute Leukemia incidence in 1986 as indicated by 7 ALL and 1 ANLL cases. For ALL relative risk was 4.49, p = 0.006. In 2 cases AL was diagnosed be fore the accident, 2 patients fell ill in June, 2 in July, 1 in August , we have no exact date for 1 patient. Relative risk has never exceede d 1.0 for all the analyzed hemoblastoses within the last 5 years. The Poisson probability of chance occurrence of 8 AL cases in supervision regions during one year is 0.0004. Sex distribution of the cases was a typical either: 7 from 8 patients were boys. Binomial probability is 0 .056 under the standard sex ratio 6:5. No evidence was obtained that t his high incidence of childhood leukemia extends to neighbour regions of the Gomel, Mogilev and Bryansk territories. The descriptive epidemi ological analysis has confirmed the existence of childhood leukemia in cidence excess in 1986, but failed to explain its cause. Analysis of i ncidence rates alone is not enough to confirm connection between leuke mia hazard and Chernobyl accident.