Pediatric Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness: Table 6.3

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Table 6.3. Initial or Prodromal Phase, Whole Body Irradiation From External Radiation or Internal Absorption (Gamma Radiation)

Symptom	Subclinical range (cGy [rad])		Sublethal range(cGy [rad])		Lethal range(cGy [rad])
Symptom	0-100	100-200	200-600	600-800	800-3000	>3000
Vomiting (onset and percentage)	None	3-6 hr 5%-50%	2-4 hr 50%-100%	1-2 hr 75%-100%	<1 hr 90%-100%	<1 hr 100%
Nausea duration		<24 hr	<24 hr	<48 hr	<48 hr	<48 hr
Diarrhea (severity, onset, and percentage)			Moderate 3-8 hr < 10%	Severe 1-3 hr > 10%	Severe < 3 hr > 10%	Very severe < 1 hr 100%
Lymphocyte count (× 106/L)^a	Unaffected	Minimally decreased within normal range	2000-1000 at 24 hr	1000-800 at 24 hr	<1000 at 24 hr	Decreases with hours
Headache, (severity, onset, and percentage)		Slight	Mild to moderate 4-24 hr < 50%	Severe 3-4 hr < 80%	Severe < 4 hr > 80%
Central nervous system (CNS) function	No impairment	No impairment	Routine task performance; cognitive impairment for 6-20 hr	Simple and routine task performance; cognitive impairment for >24 hr	Progressive incapacitation
Body temperature (severity, onset, and percentage)		Normal	Increased and fever < 3 hr 10%-100%	High fever < 1 hr 100%

^a Normal range 1400-3500 × 10⁶/L

Source: Adapted from other resources (Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, 2003; International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Diagnosis and Treatment of Radiation Injuries. Safety Reports, Series 2. IAEA, Vienna, Austria; 1998); used with permission.

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