Update: Breakthrough in Fighting Zika

Update: Breakthrough in Fighting Zika

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

Researches have reported a breakthrough in the search for a treatment for Zika virus. To better understand this report, you will need to know the following words: antibody, vaccine¹ and immune system.

Researchers have discovered an antibody that greatly reduces infection with Zika. This antibody could possibly be made into a vaccine to protect people against the virus.

Researchers named the antibody ZIKV-117. An antibody is an immune system protein.

Researchers got the antibody from a Zika patient. Then they tested the antibody in pregnant mice infected with Zika.

ZIKV-117 protected the fetus² against infection. The antibody creates a strong reaction to the virus in the immune system. In fact, ZIKV-117 neutralized³, or made harmless, each kind of Zika that the scientists tested. The antibody also greatly decreased the amount of virus in the pregnant mice. And, the researchers found decreased levels of the virus in fetal tissue, including brain tissue.

Zika-infected male mice with the antibody were more likely to survive than those without. Some of the mice did not receive the antibody until five days after being infected with Zika. The antibody was still effective, suggesting that it can treat an active infection.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in Missouri and Vanderbilt University in Tennessee did the study. They reported their findings in the publication Nature.

Michael Diamond is a microbiologist and immunologist at Washington University. A microbiologist studies extremely small forms of life such as bacteria and viruses. An immunologist studies the ways in which the body protects itself from diseases and infections.

Diamond was a lead investigator⁴ of the research.

"(Be)fore this study, there had been no vaccine or any other study that had done anything in pregnant animals to show that anything could abort⁵ or prevent disease. So, one thing this does is suggest that antibodies are able to do it and this actually bodes⁶ well for future vaccine efforts."

Diamond says scientists could develop ZIKV-117 into a drug that could be used different ways.

"Either you give it before somebody went into a high-risk area if they were traveling, or as soon as they knew they were pregnant and they were not infected already. Or if they were pregnant and then got infected but (it) was early in their stage of infection, you might be able to administer it and still have beneficial effects."

Diamond says researchers are now preparing to test the antibody in monkeys. This process, he says, could take six to nine months. If those experiments are successful, human testing could begin soon after that.

Zika can cause severe problems in newborns. The most worrisome is microcephaly. Microcephaly causes babies to be born with very small heads and brains.

Researchers and doctors also think that Zika causes a rare and severe brain disease called Guillain-Barré.

Zika, which is carried by mosquitoes, is currently spreading through the Americas.

Words in This Story

breakthrough – n. a sudden increase in knowledge, understanding, etc. : an important discovery that happens after trying for a long time to understand or explain something

antibody – n. medical : a substance produced by the body to fight disease

immune system – n. medical : the system that protects your body from diseases and infections

abort – v. to stop something before it is completed because of problems or danger : to stop in the early stages <abort a disease>

actually – adv. in act or in fact

bode⁷ – v. to indicate by signs

stage – n. a period or step in a process, activity, or development

beneficial – adj. producing good or helpful results or effects : producing benefits

1 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。

2 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

3 neutralized   

v.使失效( neutralize的过去式和过去分词 )；抵消；中和；使（一个国家）中立化

参考例句：

• Acidity in soil can be neutralized by spreading lime on it. 土壤的酸性可以通过在它上面撒石灰来中和。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This strategy effectively neutralized what the Conservatives had hoped would be a vote-winner. 这一策略有效地冲淡了保守党希望在选举中获胜的心态。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

5 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

6 bodes   

v.预示，预告，预言( bode的第三人称单数 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待

参考例句：

• This bodes ill for the failure of the programme. 这是那项计划有凶兆。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This bodes him no good. 这对他是不祥之兆。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 bode   

v.预示

参考例句：

• These figures do not bode well for the company's future.这些数字显示出公司的前景不妙。
• His careful habits bode well for his future.他那认真的习惯预示著他会有好的前途。