VOA慢速英语 2008 1210a

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Dengue fever is sometimes called "break-bone fever." It produces intense pain in the muscles and joints¹ and behind the eyes. People get severe headaches. There are no cures, but most people recover, though some take a long time.

Dengue is spread through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Four related viruses cause the disease. Recovery from one of them provides lifetime protection only against that virus.
　

A child is treated for dengue hemorrhagic fever in a Brazilian Air Force tent in Rio de Janeiro at the end of March. The military set up field hospitals to help deal with a dengue outbreak.

Scientists at research centers around the world say they are making progress toward vaccines³ to protect against dengue fever. Robert Edelman at the University of Maryland is an expert in dengue vaccine² research. He says at least two experimental vaccines have moved beyond laboratory tests and are now being tested in people.

The World Health Organization currently estimates that there may be fifty million dengue infections worldwide every year. It strikes cities and rural areas mainly in warm, wet climates. It causes physical as well as economic pain.

Dengue is now found in more than one hundred countries. About forty percent of the world population is at risk. Southeast Asia and the western Pacific are the most seriously affected⁴. But it also affects Africa, the eastern Mediterranean⁵ and the Americas.

Doctor Edelman noted⁶ that in a severe outbreak this year in Brazil, so many people got sick that hospitals in Rio de Janeiro state had to close. The army set up field hospitals in April and doctors came from other areas to help treat patients. In Vietnam, health officials say patients have sometimes had to share hospital beds because of large numbers of cases.

The W.H.O. says dengue is spreading to new areas and producing major outbreaks. Venezuela, for example, reported more than eighty thousand cases last year. These included more than six thousand cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever.

Dengue victims sometimes develop bleeding. This is dengue hemorrhagic fever. The W.H.O. says it was first recognized in the nineteen fifties. Today it affects most Asian countries and is a leading cause of serious disease and death in children.

Each year an estimated half-million people with dengue hemorrhagic fever require hospital treatment. The W.H.O. says about two and one-half percent die. But people are more likely to die if they do not get help. For now, the W.H.O. says the only way to prevent the spread of dengue fever is to fight the mosquitoes that carry it.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.

1 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

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 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。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。