Bone Marrow Recovery

Neupogen³¹: Children and pregnant women should take Neupogen with caution. It is not known if Neupogen is excreted in human milk, so breastfeeding women should take Neupogen with caution as well.

Plutonium, Americium, and Curium

DTPA³²: Infants (including breastfed infants) and children younger than 12 years of age: Either Ca-DTPA or Zn-DTPA may be given to infants and children. The dosage of DTPA to be given should be based on the child’s size and weight.

Pregnant women: Unless a pregnant woman has very high levels of internal contamination with plutonium, americium, or curium, treatment should begin and continue with Zn-DTPA.

Ca-DTPA should be used in pregnant women only to treat very high levels of internal radioactive contamination. In this case, doctors and public health authorities may prescribe a single dose of Ca-DTPA, together with a vitamin and mineral supplement that contains zinc, as the first treatment. However, after the first dose of Ca-DTPA, treatment should continue 24 hours later with a daily dose of Zn-DTPA, as needed.

Breastfeeding women: Radioactive materials can and do get into breast milk. For this reason, the CDC recommends that women with internal contamination stop breastfeeding and feed the child baby formula or other food if it is available. If breast milk is the only food available for an infant, nursing should continue. Breastfeeding women who are internally contaminated with plutonium, americium, or curium should be treated with DTPA.

Cesium and Thallium

Prussian blue³³: Since the 1960s, Prussian blue has been used to treat people who have been internally contaminated with radioactive cesium (mainly Cs-137) and nonradioactive thallium (once an ingredient in rat poisons). Doctors can prescribe Prussian blue at any point after they have determined that a person who is internally contaminated would benefit from treatment. Prussian blue will help speed up the removal of cesium and thallium from the body. The drug is safe for most adults, including pregnant women, and children (2-12 years). Dosing for infants (0-2 years) has not been determined yet.

Women who are breastfeeding their babies should stop breastfeeding if they think they are contaminated with radioactive materials and consult with their doctors.

People who have had constipation, blockages in the intestines, or certain stomach problems should be sure to tell their doctors before taking Prussian blue. Before taking Prussian blue, people also should be sure to tell their doctors about any other medicine they are taking.