马维拉成为第一个为儿童注射疟疾疫苗的国家

UN: Malawi Is First Country to Vaccinate¹ Children against Malaria²

The World Health Organization announced this week that Malawi has become the first country to begin immunizing children against malaria. WHO officials say the country is using the only approved vaccine³ to protect against the mosquito-spread disease.

The Associated Press says the vaccine protects about one-third of children who receive it. But those who get the shots are likely to have a less severe case of malaria.

The disease kills about 435,000 people every year. In Africa, most of the victims are children under the age of 5.

“It’s an imperfect vaccine but it still has the potential to save tens of thousands of lives,” notes Alister Craig. He is with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in Britain. He added that immunizing the most at-risk children during peak malaria seasons could prevent thousands from getting sick or even dying.

Craig is not linked to the malaria vaccine or the WHO.

The vaccine, known as Mosquirix, is a product of the British drug company GlaxoSmithKline. It was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2015.

An earlier test showed the vaccine was about 30 percent effective in children who got four shots, but that protection weakened over time. Reported side effects include pain, high body temperatures and severe shaking.

Pedro Alonso is head of the WHO’s malaria program. He says similar vaccination⁴ programs would begin in the coming weeks in Kenya and Ghana. The aim is to vaccinate about 360,000 children each year across the three countries.

Alonso called the vaccination campaign a “historical moment.” He noted⁵ that it is much more difficult to design a vaccine against a parasite⁶ – an organism living in or on another organism – as opposed to a bacterium⁷ or virus.

Alonso admitted the malaria vaccine does have problems. But he said the world could not wait any longer for a better version.

“We don’t know how long it will take to develop the next-generation vaccine,” he said. “It may be many, many years away.”

He said the slowed progress against malaria demands new tools now. Resistance is growing to medicines that treat the disease. And mosquitoes are becoming more resistant⁸ to insecticides. In addition, money used for fighting malaria has not been increasing in recent years.

It took GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and partners more than 30 years to develop the vaccine, at a cost of around $1 billion. A company spokesperson said GSK is working with partners to raise money for even larger vaccination programs.

Some experts say the vaccine should not take away from other efforts that offer non-costly, proven ways to reduce malaria. They note examples such as the use of bed nets around sleeping areas and insecticide products.

“This is a bold thing to do, but it is not a silver bullet,” said Thomas Churcher, a malaria expert at Imperial College London. A “silver bullet” is an overly simple and immediate⁹ answer to a complex problem.

Churcher added, “As long as using the vaccine doesn’t interfere¹⁰ with other efforts, like the urgent need for new insecticides, it is a good thing to do.”

Alister Craig noted that one difficulty could be persuading parents to bring their children for repeated doses of a vaccine that only protects about a third of children -- for a limited amount of time.

More commonly used vaccines¹¹, like those for polio and measles¹², work more than 90 percent of the time.

“This malaria vaccine is going to save many lives, even if it is not as good as we would like,” Craig said. “But I hope this will kick-start other research efforts so that the story doesn’t end here.”

I’m Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

immunize - v. to give (someone) a vaccine to prevent infection by a disease

mosquito - n. a small flying insect that bites the skin of people and animals and sucks their blood

moment - n. a very short period of time

dose ?- n. the amount of a medicine, drug, or vitamin that is taken at one time

1 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。

2 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

3 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。

4 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

5 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。

6 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

7 bacterium   

n.(pl.)bacteria 细菌

参考例句：

• The bacterium possibly goes in the human body by the mouth.细菌可能通过口进入人体。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。

8 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

11 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。

12 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。