美国国家公共电台 NPR Measles Shots Aren't Just For Kids: Many Adults Could Use A Booster Too

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

If you got your measles¹ vaccine² as a kid, do you need to be revaccinated as an adult? It's an important question that's coming up as health officials now scramble⁵ to contain the measles outbreaks across the country. Here's NPR's Allison Aubrey.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE⁶: The measles vaccine is incredibly safe and effective, but it wasn't always that way. Many people born in the 1960s who received an early version got a vaccine made from an inactivated⁷ virus. And Vanderbilt University's William Schaffner says this didn't work so well.

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER: It turned out to be a very weak and sometimes even harmful vaccine.

AUBREY: This vaccine was given between 1963 and 1967. And for people who got it, the CDC recommends that you talk to your doctor about getting revaccinated with the current, live measles, mumps⁸ and rubella vaccine known as the MMR. The CDC says even if you're not sure whether you have protection against measles or got the ineffective vaccine back in the '60s, you can opt⁹ to get a dose of the MMR vaccine. William Schaffner says there's no downside to getting revaccinated.

SCHAFFNER: Even if you're protected, it won't help much, but it won't harm you. And if you happen to be susceptible¹⁰, it will give you over 90% protection.

AUBREY: And this advice also applies to people born between 1957 and the early 1960s, who may not have been vaccinated⁴ at all as children. Schaffner says, it's not a blanket recommendation, but it may be a good idea for people who live in communities where cases of measles have been reported or for those traveling to other countries that have measles, including countries in Europe.

SCHAFFNER: Brazil, Israel, Japan, the Philippines - if you're traveling to any of those places and you're at all uncertain about your measles protection, get vaccinated because if you get measles as an adult, you're much more likely to get the complications.

AUBREY: And this includes pneumonia¹¹ as well as encephalitis, or brain swelling¹². Now, people born before 1957 are considered to be protected against measles. That's because the virus was so widespread nearly everyone was exposed.

So far this year, measles has been documented in more than a third of states in the U.S. Most of the illnesses occur in children. It can start with a runny nose, a cough. And when it gets worse...

SCHAFFNER: You feel miserable¹³. You have aches and pains. You have high fever.

AUBREY: The hundreds of measles cases reported in the U.S. this year pales in comparison to the 1950s. Before there was a vaccine, the CDC says 3 to 4 million people each year got measles. Schaffner says we don't want to turn back the clock. That's why it's so important for parents to vaccinate³ their children, which the CDC says is the most effective way to prevent the disease.

Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

1 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

2 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

3 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

4 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？

5 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

6 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。

7 inactivated   

v.使不活泼，阻止活动( inactivate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Molluscicides are quickly inactivated by sunlight and adsorption to mud organic matter. 灭螺剂因阳光作用、泥土及有机物质的吸收会很快失效。 来自辞典例句
• Viruses were inactivated by BPL and the toxicity measured again. BPL对病毒进行灭活，测定残存毒力。 来自互联网

8 mumps   

n.腮腺炎

参考例句：

• Sarah got mumps from her brother.萨拉的弟弟患腮腺炎，传染给她了。
• I was told not go near Charles. He is sickening for mumps.别人告诉我不要走近查尔斯， 他染上了流行性腮腺炎。

9 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

10 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

11 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

12 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

13 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。