Twenty-four years have passed since the time when the world was shaken by the damage at Chernobyl nuclear power station, the fatal consequences of which many thousands of people now feel. A tragic fate overtook 1,800 citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan who participated in the response to the disaster. The effect on the environment of the Chernobyl atomic catastrophe has been investigated many times, and from different points of view, since the accident. But investigations of the effects of different radiation doses on the human immune system have not been studied.

In our Institute in Dushanbe, we examined approximately 750 people who had taken part in the liquidation of Chernobyl between 1994 and 2006. The psychological, digestive system, and immune responses of these people, who directly took part in the liquidation, were assessed. The investigation began eight or more years after the catastrophe. All of the patients were investigated and treated in our hospital, opened after the...