VOA常速英语2015--美国学生遭遇抗药性虱子（在线收听）

美国学生遭遇抗药性虱子

17-year-old Ben Kupferman from California just returned from a summer camp, bringing some unwanted guests home.

来自加利福尼亚的17岁的Ben Kupferman刚刚结束夏令营回家，但是一些不速之客也随之而来。

"I was just scratching my head and one of the lice just came out. It was just on my finger, crawling around," he recalled.

“我挠了一下头皮，结果就发现了一个虱子。就在我的手指上爬来爬去。”他回忆说。

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate some six to 12 million lice infestations occur each year in the U.S. in children 3 to 11 years old. Until recently, all a parent had to do was buy some over-the-counter product that gets rid of lice within days. But increasingly these remedies do not work. Scientists say that's because lice have developed tolerance and even resistance to chemicals.

美国疾病防控中心估计，每年，美国3岁至11岁的儿童中会发生600万至1200万次虱子猖獗事件。直到最近，父母能做的只是在药品专柜购买一些药物，几天之内消灭虱子。但是这些药物逐渐失去效果。科学家表示，这是因为虱子产生了耐力，甚至能够抵抗这些化学药物。

"Certain ones have the potential to mutate and protect themselves against whatever we are using to try to kill them," said Angela Baker, a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

“某些虱子有变异的潜力，无论你用什么方法消灭它们，它们都能保护自己。”威斯康星儿童医院儿科医生Angela Baker表示。

David Gaines, a public health entomologist in Virginia said lice have been developing resistance for some time.

佛吉尼亚公共卫生昆虫学家David Gaines表示，虱子产生抗药性已有一段时间。

"This has probably been coming for many, many years. There have been reports of insecticide-resistant lice going back decades,” said Gaines. 

“可能已经有许多年的时间。追溯到几十年前，也已经有了抵抗杀虫剂的虱子的报告。”Gaines报道。

When standard treatments don't work, parents are referred to a doctor for prescription drugs. But some parents don't like using strong chemicals on their kids, preferring more natural methods. Beverly Mann, a California mom, banded together with other parents to start Nit Fairies, a natural lice-treatment business.

当标准治疗方法无效时，家长会请医生开具处方药物。但是一些家长不喜欢给孩子使用强力化学药物，而是青睐更加天然的方法。加利福尼亚一位名叫Beverly Mann的母亲和其他家长联合起来成立了Nit Fairies，一家使用天然方法消灭虱子的机构。

"We use an all-natural treatment oil and we do give guarantees with our services. It is pesticide-free. We do the combing, we do the picking, so the parent at home doesn't have to," said Mann.

“我们使用全天然的治疗油，我们敢为我们的服务做出保证。产品完全不含杀虫剂。我们为孩子梳理头发，查找虱子，这样父母就不用那么麻烦了。”Mann说。

In the state of Virginia, Gerry Wolburg started his lice-removal business three years ago when his daughter Rachel got lice. He uses heat to kill lice eggs, known as nits.

在佛吉尼亚州，Gerry Wolburg三年前开办了灭虱业务。当时他的女儿Rachel惹了虱子。他用加热的方法来消灭虱子虫卵。

"It desiccates the lice with hot air, and if you leave eggs in the hair they're desiccated. That means they shrivel up. They are dried up and we like to point out that it's like leaving a boiled egg in a hen-house. It's not going to hatch," explained Wolburg.

“他们用热风使虱子脱水，如果头发里有幼虫，会被风干。这意味着它们会干枯。幼虫被吹干，就好像在鸡舍中留下一个煮鸡蛋一样，不能再孵化。”Wolburg解释说。

The good news is that lice don't carry diseases. They are only annoying parasites that are sometimes hard to get rid of.

好消息是，虱子并不携带疾病。它们只是一种非常惹人讨厌的寄生虫，有时非常难以消灭。