美国国家公共电台 NPR--Respiratory syncytial virus surges each winter, but this year it's early

Respiratory syncytial virus surges each winter, but this year it's early

Transcript¹

Some hospitals are filling up as respiratory infections hits hard and early. It happening just as flu season starts up and another possible COVID-19 wave approaches.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some hospitals in this country are overflowing³ again, but not because of COVID. Many are running out of available beds because of an early surge in respiratory infections, particularly RSV. NPR health correspondent Rob Stein is covering this story. Rob, good morning.

ROB STEIN, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: What's happening?

STEIN: You know, Steve, this virus, the RSV, which stands for respiratory syncytial virus, tends to surge every winter, just like the flu. And for most people, it just causes something like a cold, you know? But RSV can be more serious, even life-threatening, especially for very young children and older people. What's different this year is that RSV is surging much earlier than usual. Here's Dr. William Schaffner. He's an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University.

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER: RSV is remarkably⁵ earlier this season. It usually is prominent in January and February, but here we are in October. And in many parts of the country, it's really started to make young children and some adults sick.

INSKEEP: We've had some people sick in our household in the last few days, and everybody's passing the COVID test, which now makes me wonder. Although people do have their flu vaccines⁶ over here, is there also danger from the flu?

STEIN: Yeah, the flu - doctors have been bracing⁷ for an early flu season this year because of what happened in parts of the southern hemisphere during the winter there. And sure enough, Steve, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says flu activity is now increasing in most of the country. So far, flu is hitting earliest and hardest in southern and south-central states, but it's already pretty widespread in parts of the northeast, like New York and Washington, D.C. That's why officials are urging everyone to get their flu shots right away.

INSKEEP: Why would it be that the viruses would be hitting so much earlier than expected?

STEIN: You know, most of the common respiratory viruses, like RSV and flu, kind of disappeared the last couple of years because of all the masking and social distancing and other precautions people took to protect themselves from COVID. Here's Dr. Kristin Moffit, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Boston Children's Hospital.

KRISTIN MOFFITT: It's what's being referred to as this immunity⁸ gap that people have experienced from not having been exposed to our typical respiratory viruses for the last couple of years, combined with re-introduction to indoor gatherings⁹, indoor venues¹⁰, indoor school and day care without any of the mitigation measures that we had in place for the last couple of years.

STEIN: And so these viruses are spreading fast again, hitting babies and other young children especially hard because RSV tends to make kids sickest the first time they get it.

INSKEEP: Which would explain why we're hearing stories about children's hospitals across the country that are filling up.

STEIN: Right, right. You know, and these hospitals, a lot of them are getting really slammed, especially in northern states. And this comes at a time when many are already having a hard time finding enough doctors, nurses and other staff. I talked about this with Dr. Mark Wietecha, who heads the Children's Hospital Association.

MARK WIETECHA: Most all the big kids hospitals are completely full. We have overflow² going on in numbers of them where we're putting tents and temporary shelter capacity outside the hospitals. Many of our hospitals are on diversion, meaning they're not taking anyone new. But there's really nowhere to divert to.

STEIN: And that's leaving some very sick children waiting for hours in emergency rooms for hospital beds to open up. And, you know, Steve, all this is happening just as the country might be on the verge¹¹ of yet another winter surge of COVID, raising the prospect¹² of not just the long-feared twindemic (ph) of both flu and COVID, but now possibly a tripledemic (ph) of RSV, flu and COVID.

INSKEEP: Wow. Rob, thanks so much.

STEIN: Sure thing, Steve.

INSKEEP: NPR's Rob Stein.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

3 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

8 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

9 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

10 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

11 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

12 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。