VOA慢速英语2020 出现无法解释疾病 阿斯利康公司暂停新冠疫苗试验（在线收听）

Drug-maker AstraZeneca has temporarily suspended its COVID-19 vaccine tests after an "unexplained illness" in a person who took the treatment.

制药商阿斯利康在一位受试者发生了无法解释的疾病之后暂停了该公司的新冠疫苗试验。

In a statement released Tuesday, the company said, "This is a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials." The announcement came shortly after the drug-maker joined eight other companies in a promise to follow safety measures in vaccine development.

该公司在周二发布的一份声明中表示：“这是一项常规操作，当试验中发生任何潜在、无法解释的疾病时，就必须采取这种操作。”这份声明发布前不久，该公司联合其它8家公司承诺在疫苗开发中遵循安全措施。

AstraZeneca's vaccine candidate is being developed with the University of Oxford. It has been described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as probably the world's leading vaccine candidate to fight COVID-19.

阿斯利康正同牛津大学开发这一候选疫苗。它已被世卫组织称为可能是全球对抗新冠肺炎的主要候选疫苗。

On Wednesday, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO's chief scientist, said "for drugs and vaccines which are given to people, you have to test their safety, first and foremost."

世卫组织首席科学家苏米亚·斯瓦米纳森博士表示，“作为给人类注射的药物和疫苗，我们必须测试其安全性，这是首要的。”

Possible problems in large trials

大型试验中可能存在的问题

Late last month, AstraZeneca began looking for 30,000 volunteers in the United States for its large Phase 3 trials of the vaccine. It also is testing the vaccine in thousands of people in Britain, and in smaller studies in Brazil and South Africa.

上月下旬，阿斯利康开始在美国寻找3万名志愿者进行该公司的大型3期疫苗试验。它还对数万英国人以及在巴西和南非的小规模研究中进行了疫苗试验。

Two other COVID-19 vaccine candidates with large Phase 3 trials in the U.S. include one made by Moderna and the other by Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech.

另外两种在美国进行大型3期疫苗试验的新冠疫苗其中一种是Moderna公司研制的，还有一种是辉瑞公司和德国的BioNTech公司研制的。

During Phase 3 trials, researchers look for any signs of possible side effects. The trials also judge effectiveness by studying who gets sick and who does not among patients taking part in them. People in one group get a real shot and people in another group receive an inactive shot as part of the test.

在3期疫苗试验期间，研究人员寻找可能出现的任何副作用迹象。该试验还通过研究受试者当中谁生病以及谁没有生病来判断其有效性。作为测试的一部分，有一组人注射了真实的疫苗，另一组人注射了无活性的疫苗。

AstraZeneca pointed out that "In large clinical trials, illnesses will happen by chance and must be independently reviewed." And the company said it is working to limit possible "impact on the trial timeline."

阿斯利康公司指出，“在大型临床试验中，疾病是偶发的，必须进行独立审查。”该公司称其正在努力限制对试验时间表可能造成的影响。

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the top infectious disease expert in the U.S. He told CBS News on Wednesday that it is "not uncommon" for vaccine makers to suspend trials. He added, "That's the reason why you have various phases of trials, to determine if in fact these candidates are safe."

安东尼·福奇博士是美国顶尖的传染病专家。他周三对CBS新闻表示，疫苗制造商暂停试验并不罕见。他还表示：“这就是为何需要进行多阶段的试验，以确定这些候选疫苗实际上是否安全。”

Dr. Ashish Jha, a researcher with Brown University, said on Twitter, "We have no idea whether this is a big deal or not. Science is hard. This is why we have to let the trials play out." He added that he was hopeful: "I remain optimistic we will have a vaccine found to be safe and effective in upcoming months."

布朗大学研究员阿希什.杰哈博士在推特上表示：“我们不知道问题大不大。科学很艰难。这就是为什么我们要把试验进行到底。”他还表示自己充满希望：“我仍然很乐观，我们将在未来几个月内找到一种安全有效的疫苗。”

Britain's medical agency said it is reviewing the information to decide whether trials can restart as quickly as possible. The U.S. National Institutes of Health, which is providing financial support for AstraZeneca's trials, did not comment.

英国医疗机构表示正在审查相关信息以决定是否可以尽快重启试验。为阿斯利康公司提供财政支持的美国国立卫生研究院未发表评论。

The suspension of the trials followed reports that the United States was aiming for quick approval possibly before the November 3 presidential election. AstraZeneca has already agreed to supply nearly three billion doses to governments around the world.

有报道称美国打算在11月3日总统大选之前快速批准该疫苗，然后就发生了这次试验暂停。阿斯利康已经同意向世界各地政府提供30亿剂疫苗。

What is the "unexplained illness"?

什么是“无法解释的疾病？”

The New York Times reported that a volunteer in the Britain trial was found to have transverse myelitis. It is an inflammatory problem that affects the spinal cord and is often started by viral infections. The information came from an unidentified person with knowledge of the situation. AstraZeneca did not comment.

据《纽约时报》报道，在英国的试验中，有一名志愿者被发现患上了横贯性脊髓炎。这是一种影响脊髓的炎性问题，通常是由病毒感染引起的。该信息来自于一位匿名的知情人士。阿斯利康公司未发表评论。

The Reuters news agency also reported that the illness happened in the British trial. The large trial began in May with more than 12,000 volunteers who were between five and at least 70 years of age.

路透社也报道称，这种疾病发生在英国的试验中。这项大型试验始于5月，共有1.2万名年龄在5到70岁的志愿者参加。

Stat News was the first news organization to report AstraZeneca's decision to suspend the trials. It said the decision has affected trials being carried out by other vaccine makers, which are now looking for signs of similar reactions.

Stat News是首家报道阿斯利康决定暂停试验的新闻机构。它称这一决定影响到了其它疫苗生产商正在进行的试验，这些生产商现在正在寻找类似反应迹象。