St. Charles County Department of Community
Health & The Environment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, March14, 2000

CONTACTS:
Joe Ortwerth, County Executive - (636) 949-3700
Gil Copley, Director - (636) 949-7477

Infant Death Concerns To Be Addressed
State Health Department to Work with County to Investigate

St. Charles County - St. Charles County Executive Joe Ortwerth today announced that the State Department of Health has agreed to examine the seven infant deaths that have raised concerns in the Immaculate Conception Parish in Dardenne Prairie. Some Parishioners, as well as other St. Charles County residents residing in the area surrounding the Weldon Spring Federal Cleanup site, have asked that the examination take place. Residents want to see if there is any connection with radiological and chemical contamination at the site.

In addition to the study of the seven infant deaths, the Missouri Department of Health has agreed to finish and publish a 10-month preliminary report on infant deaths in year 2000, both for the county and for the area of concern. In April, this report will be updated with the full 12 months of year 2000 data.

Finally, to more intensely evaluate the specific geographic area of concern, a program of increased surveillance will be carried out for the next 18 months. This heightened scrutiny will ensure that if there is any increased risk to infants in this area it is more likely to be detected. This more proactive surveillance will involve developing a questionnaire and administering that questionnaire for all cases of infant death and fetal death during the study period. The questionnaire will look for any common risk factors. If there should be evidence of increased risk based on the heightened surveillance a plan of action based on the findings would be developed.

The agreement to conduct the inquiry was reached in a meeting between state officials from the Missouri Department of Health, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the United States Department of Energy, as well as staff of the County Department of Community Health and the Environment. The meeting was arranged and moderated by the County Executive and was followed by a meeting with members and representatives of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie.

The County Department of Community Health and the Environment will be assisting in the examination as well as helping to facilitate ongoing communication on the status of the inquiry to parish members and other county residents. The inquiry into the deaths of the seven infants will involve in-depth interviews with the parents, completion of a questionnaire, and examination of medical records. The investigation will be initiated as soon as all needed consents are obtained and the questionnaire is ready, probably in April or early May.

"Two major functions of public health departments are to protect the health of citizens and to keep citizens informed about factors that may affect health," stated Gil Copley, Director of the St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment. "Our partnership with the Missouri Department of Health will help us to do this. We are fortunate that we can utilize their professional expertise and experience in this highly technical and challenging analysis."

To date, all data indicates that there is not an increased level of infant and fetal mortality in the area of concern. Both St. Charles County and the area surrounding the Weldon Spring site have consistently had rates of infant and fetal death below state and national rates.

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