Respiratory apparatus diseases in military liquidators after Chernobyl disaster (results of a 30-year survey)
In this work, there were analyzed the findings of perennial observations of morbidity level and structure for respiratory apparatus diseases in military clean-up workers after Chernobyl disaster. It was established that during the 30-year survey, respiratory apparatus diseases on average took second place among other disease types; in regard to morbidity structure, acute respiratory infections of upper airways ranked first. The highest morbidity level was marked in the first 3-5 years after disaster, that might have been specified by inhalation of aerosolized radionuclides from «hot particles» released by damaged reactor in the first hours or days after disaster. In the first years after Chernobyl disaster, respiratory apparatus diseases occur more often among liquidators on the shady side of forty at the moment of participation in radiation danger works. In this examined category, the level of chronic respiratory apparatus pathology prior arrival to the station was significantly higher than in liquidators of younger age, that might've been one of the major factors of lower sensitivity of the latter to «Chernobyl dust» inhalation. In subsequent years, the level of bronchopulmonary morbidity was higher among the younger age bracket, that might be a manifestation of the «accelerated ageing phenomenon», which is specific to Chernobyl cohort. There was no dependence between the level of bronchopulmonary pathology on the one hand, and external radiation dose, total work time and nature of professional activity of liquidators, on the other.