Union County Health Department staff and representatives from Columbus Children’s Hospital, The Ohio State University and the Ohio Department of Health met with parents from Union County whose children had been diagnosed with leukemia. The purpose of the meeting was to share information and plan further analysis of leukemia cases in young people under 25 in Marysville.

Dr. Fred Ruymann, MD, OSU Professor of Pediatrics at OSU and Director of the Hematology/Oncology Section at Columbus Children’s Hospital discussed how, in recent studies, the occurrence of leukemia has been related to increases in population in rural or isolated areas. He dispelled the perception that the cause for cases would have one point source “because one thing we have found in looking at other communities with leukemia cases is there is seldom one cause linked to the disease”. He explained that, “genetic conditions and family history can place any particular child at greater risk for the disease and even then, among those at risk, only a few will actually get the disease”. Case reviews done to date have shown no common links among cases. Parents were told that an OSU graduate student will work with Dr. Ruymann and the Ohio Department of Health to study leukemia rates from counties contiguous to Union and Franklin to determine a rate pattern and comparison. Dr. Ruymann stated that he “did not expect the perceived increase in incidence to continue because of the conclusions drawn in other research about expanding population”.

For questions or comments call: Anne Davy, Health Commissioner at 1-888-333-9461 Ext. 24 or 642-0801 Ext. 24.

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