美国国家公共电台 NPR--Biden is being treated with the COVID drug Paxlovid to speed his recovery

Biden is being treated with the COVID drug Paxlovid to speed his recovery

Transcript¹

President Biden is taking Paxlovid, a course of antiviral pills, to treat his COVID-19 infection. How is the drug holding up against new variants²?

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

President Biden has COVID.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Yeah. He says he's doing fine, though. And he released a video saying as much yesterday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Symptoms are mild. And I really appreciate your inquiries³ and your concerns. But I'm doing well. I'm getting a lot of work done.

MARTIN: The president's doctor prescribed him a course of Paxilovid antiviral pills.

FADEL: NPR's Pien Huang joins us now to share the latest on the president's condition and this common COVID treatment. Hi, Pien.

PIEN HUANG, BYLINE⁴: Good morning.

FADEL: So the president says he's feeling fine. What do we know about his condition?

HUANG: Well, the latest is that the president has a runny nose. He's kind of tired. And he has an occasional dry cough. That's according to Dr. Kevin O'Connor, the president's physician, who's promised to give daily updates on that condition. It's not clear yet how the president got COVID. But it's everywhere these days. In terms of the timeline, the president started feeling tired after a long day on Wednesday. Thursday morning, he tested positive for the coronavirus, first on an antigen test, then on a PCR test.

Now, the president is vaccinated⁵. He's had two booster shots. And he's taking work calls while isolating⁶ in the White House residence - so far, seems to have a pretty mild case of COVID. But given the president's age - he's 79 - and some of his health conditions, his doctor started him on a course of Paxlovid. He joins more than 2.7 million COVID patients who've gotten the drug here in the U.S.

FADEL: OK. So remind us how these antiviral pills work.

HUANG: Well, so it's a five-day course of pills. You take them twice daily. And the president started them yesterday, within a day or two of showing symptoms, which, according to the current guidelines, is ideal. See, the pills need to be started within five days of getting symptoms because they basically work by stopping the virus from replicating⁷ in the body. And like a lot of other patients, the president has also had to adjust his medications to be able to take Paxlovid safely. For the time being, he stopped taking pills that lower his cholesterol⁸ and thin his blood to avoid drug interactions that could be dangerous.

FADEL: How well does Paxlovid work? What do we know about that?

HUANG: Well, when the pills were first authorized⁹ in the winter, they were considered almost 90% effective at cutting the risk of getting hospitalized. This was a result that was found in people who were unvaccinated, with risk factors for severe COVID. Now many people are starting with a lower risk because they've been vaccinated, or they've recovered from COVID or both. Dr. Scott Dryden-Peterson at Mass General Brigham Hospital in Boston said that for COVID patients like Biden, who are around the same age, who are vaccinated with the same underlying¹⁰ conditions, the risks of getting hospitalized may have dropped to as low as 1%. Still, he says, taking Paxlovid cuts even that minimal¹¹ risk in half.

SCOTT DRYDEN-PETERSON: The vast majority of patients do want to take it. They want to reduce the risk. Of course, none of us know what will happen in the future. But this therapy does seem to prevent severe complications of COVID, and so most patients are opting¹² for that.

HUANG: Some people have reported that their COVID symptoms do come back after completing a course of Paxlovid. And it's not currently clear how frequently this happens or - but so far, the rebounds¹³ are generally mild, and patients could be infectious again. And another Paxlovid development this month is that the government is now allowing pharmacists to prescribe these pills, which opens up the possibilities for the drug to be more accessible across the country.

FADEL: NPR's Pien Huang, thank you.

HUANG: You're welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF HANDBOOK'S "CAN'T TALK NOW")

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 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

3 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

6 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

7 replicating   

复制( replicate的现在分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Applications create these partitions for storing and replicating data. 应用程序创建这些分区用来储存和复制数据。
• The closest real things to these creatures were bits of self-replicating RNA. 最贴近这些造物的实物是能做一点微不足道的自复制的核糖核酸。

8 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

9 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

10 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

11 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

12 opting   

v.选择，挑选( opt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• What courses are most students opting for? 多数学生选什么课程？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Wells doesn't rule out opting out and then re-signing with Houston. 威尔斯没有排除跳出合同再与火箭重签的可能。 来自互联网

13 rebounds   

反弹球( rebound的名词复数 )； 回弹球； 抢断篮板球； 复兴

参考例句：

• V is the velocity after the gas particle rebounds from the wall. V是粒子从壁上弹开后的速度。
• In the former case, the first body rebounds with practically its original velocity. 在前一种情况下，第一个物体实际上以原来的速度弹回。