Source: CCTV.com

05-09-2006 09:05

This is an ancient city-gate tower in Xinzhou, Shanxi Province. Xinzhou was once a major trade hub in northern Shanxi. It's now a prosperous and busy regional commercial center. But in 1992, it almost became deserted. What happened then?

One afternoon in 1992, a patient was sent to the emergency room at the Xinzhou People's Hospital. He was named Zhang Youchang. He seemed to have a bad cold.

Wang Weixing (People's Hospital, Xinzhou City) said: "His face was red. He had pains in his stomach."

The doctor didn't find anything wrong with him except for red splotches on his right leg. Just to be safe, they asked him to stay at the hospital. By the next day, his symptoms suddenly became worse. His entire face was red. His eyes, mouth, nose and face were swollen.

His condition shocked the doctors. They analyzed his blood.

Wang Weixing said: "When he first arrived here, his white blood cell count was 20,000. But the next day, it dropped to 4,000 and was close to dangerous levels."

White blood cells protect us against infections. When bacteria and viruses invade our bodies, they attack and kill them. A normal person's blood has 4,000 ~ 10,000 white blood cells per milliliter. Too many or too little in your blood means that your body is fighting off disease. When the white blood cell count drops below 2,500, your immune system will no longer have the ability fighting off infection.

Although Zhang Youchang's body had red splotches, the doctors couldn't identify the cause. At the same time, Zhang's second eldest brother fell ill.

Wang Weixing said: "The second patient's face was also red. He looked very ill. He had the same symptoms as the first patient. "

The situation made the doctors wonder if Zhang Youchang was suffering from a contagious disease.

Wang Weixing said: "Many contagious diseases cause rubefaction and turgescence. Many viral infections make the skin red. "

The doctors gave Zhang Youchang antibiotics. Yet, after several days, he showed no improvement. The doctors were worried.

Because of constant vomiting, Zhang Youchang had become so weak that he couldn't get down from his bed to walk. Soon, he was transferred to the First Affiliated Hospital of Shanxi Medical University in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, for further treatment. The next day after he was sent there, his father fell ill, too, exhibiting the same symptoms.

The situation seemed critical. Yet, the doctors still couldn't identify the disease. At that time, Zhang Youchang's illness became severe.

Zhang Fang said: "When I went to see him, he was unable to see or eat. He hadn't eaten anything since he became ill. He looked like he was dying. The next day after I returned home, he died."

Zhang Fang, Zhang Youchang's wife, was 4 months pregnant. They had only been married a short time. She couldn't bear her husband's death and fell ill.

Zhang Fang said: "When I became pregnant, I had severe morning sickness. After some time, it stopped. But when I took care of him at hospital, I started feeling uncomfortable, so I had to return home. "

After her husband died, his brother and father also fell ill. Her symptoms were the same as theirs. She wondered if she was infected by her husband.

Zhang Fang said: "Every day, I had my blood analyzed. At first, my white blood cell count was 4,000, but 1-2 days later, it dropped to 2,000."

The blood analysis results proven that Zhang Fang had the same disease as her husband. This was a great misfortune to her and her family. To add to her worries, Zhang Youchang's brother died 5 days after her husband died.

Zhang Fang said: " This scared everyone in my hometown. They all said that my family had a terrible disease. No one visited my home anymore. "

Li Fuzhi(Village Head,Nanguan Village, Xinzhou City)said: "Everyone was panicking about the disease. Some said that dogs had it and became ill. Some said rats had it and would spread it. "

Doubts and suspicions made friends and relatives shun Zhang Fang and her family. But the situation got worse. Eight days after Zhang Youchang died, his father died.

When Zhang Fang's family were attending to the funerals, news came from the hospital that a patient who once stayed with Zhang Youchang in a hospital room as well as hospital staff who once treated Zhang Youchang had become ill. The news spread quickly throughout Xinzhou. Busy streets suddenly became deserted.

The situation had already become very serious. In less than 10 days, Zhang Youchang, his father, and brother died, and his wife was seriously ill. People thought that he had a contagious disease and passed it on to his brother and father. Soon after, they all died. His wife also became ill. But there was one problem. His wife, Zhang Fang, who was with him the most, was the last to show symptoms of the disease. She should've been the first to catch the disease. And when Zhang Youchang was hospitalized, because Zhang Fang was pregnant, her parents took her back to their home to take care of her. If Zhang Fang was infected, it should have spread to her family, but none of them were infected . Why?

In order to save her and find the cause of her disease, Zhang Fang's father brought her to Beijing by train to see doctors. They visited several hospitals in Beijing and finally found help at Peking University People's Hospital. At that time, Dr. Lou Bincheng was on duty in the emergency room.

Lou Bincheng(Peking University People's Hospital)said: "Her major symptoms were fever, trichomadesis, and bleeding gums. In addition, she had some secondary symptoms. In particular, the trichomadesis."

Symptoms of trichomadesis only appear in patients who receive radiation treatment. Why would Zhang Fang have these symptoms? Dr. Lou believed she might have come in contact with something radioactive. But he knew it was too early to draw any conclusions.

Lou Bincheng said: "We had to save her first, although her disease wasn't identified then. That night, we gave her a transfusion of 400 CC of blood."

The blood transfusion seemed to alleviate her symptoms. To identify her illness as soon as possible, Dr. Lou consulted some experts.

Bai Yushu(Nuclear Radiation Expert,Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention)said: "We suspected her disease was caused by either poisoning, a viral infection or radiation. We also invited several experts to look for evidence from various aspects. But we didn't find any evidence to prove what disease she suffered. Under these circumstances, I thought if we examined her chromosomes, we could find out if she was suffering from radiation poisoning."

Zhang Fang's blood sample was taken to the lab for analysis. 48 hours later, Prof. Bai Yushu discovered some clues on her chromosomes.

Bai Yushu said: "We examined 300 cells and discovered over 140 of them had dicentric chromosomes. Therefore, I was certain she was suffering from nuclear radiation."

Suppose that there is some substance that can penetrate our bodies and penetrate every chromosome in our cells. The broken chromosomal pieces will combine with other normal chromosomes and form dicentric chromosomes. What is this substance? It's a radioactive ray, which is invisible and emitted by radioactive substances. Experts say that the dicentric chromosomes in Zhang Fang's body were probably caused by radioactive substances.

In fact, there are many radioactive elements on earth and even in space. But after 4.6 billion years of constant decay, some of these radioactive elements on the earth only emit faint radioactive rays.

We have used nuclear reactors to produce various man-made radioactive sources. The biggest man-made radioactive source emits over 1,000 billion rays per second, covering a range of dozens of meters. It's a far greater threat than any natural radioactive source.

Once someone comes in contact with a man-made source, his face will become red within several seconds. After he is irradiated for several minutes, his internal organs will be severely damaged and lose their functions, and he'll soon die.

Various signs pointed to the fact that Zhang Fang was suffering from radiation poisoning.

Lou Bincheng said: "We gave her a blood transfusion of 1,200 CC as well as antibiotics. After about 7 days of treatment, her white blood cell count rose to 5,800."

Zhang Fang is gradually improving.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention dispatched nuclear radiation experts to Peking University People's Hospital to search for radioactive sources. But they didn't find any there. They thought there might be radioactive sources at Zhang Youchang's work site. The situation was urgent. The experts must get there as soon as possible.

This is a deserted dry well in the suburbs of Xinzhou. It's also the place where Zhang Youchang worked the day when he fell ill. During the investigation, the experts learnt that the well was once used to store radioactive materials for breeding seeds in the 1950s.

Wang Zuoyuan(Nuclear Radiation Expert,Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention)said: "We went to survey the deserted well to see if there were radioactive sources in it. But we didn't find any there."

The experts were perplexed by the results. If there were no radioactive sources in the well, how did Zhang Youchang get an acute radiation disease?

Wang Zuoyuan said: " We asked his friends to remember what he did in the well and if he picked up anything there. We asked his doctors what his symptoms were when he was treated at the hospital and if he had any abnormalities."

The experts checked everything. They spoke with anyone who had come in contact with Zhang Youchang, at his home and the hospital, but didn't find any clues.

Wang Zuoyuan said: " Two interns told us that they saw a metal object drop out of one of Zhang Youchang's pockets. They picked it up and threw it away."

The metal object might be the source of radioactivity, but it was thrown away nearly a month ago. Where had the garbage been dumped? If the radioactive source wasn't found, it could hurt others. But after a few days of hard searching, the experts didn't find it.

Wang Zuoyuan said: " We repeatedly inquired about the whereabouts of the garbage."

Cao Min(Former Official,Shanxi Provincial Administration of Health)said: "We went to the garbage collector's home to ask where he had dumped the garbage. He said he dumped it at the Dongshan Waste Dump. I told him to tell the truth, or he would be sent to jail if the radioactive source hurt or killed others later. He then told us he had dumped the garbage beside Jinci Road. We quickly drove there."

Local police were ordered to guard the scene. The experts and workers prepared and started to search for the radioactive source in the roadside dump.

When the experts waved a detector near the dump, they heard a harsh sound. Even as night fell, everyone kept working. At about 9:00 pm, they finally placed the radioactive source into a lead pot and then loaded the pot onto a truck. By then, the search for the radioactive source was complete.

Half a month later, Zhang Fang returned home. Four months later, she delivered a baby girl and named her Zhang Jingsheng, which means "born in Beijing."

The incident in Xinzhou 12 years ago is the most serious radioactive accident in Chinese history. After Zhang Youchang picked up the fatal Cobalt-60 material, he constantly had it near him. On the way from the work, back home, and then from Xinzhou to Taiyuan, he came in contact with over 100 people including co-workers, family members, and medical workers. His father, brother and himself died from the radiation. Most others involved had serious to less serious health problems such as cataracts or slight illnesses.

 

Editor:Wang