VOA慢速英语--英国计划对健康志愿者进行COVID感染的试验

Researchers in Britain are preparing to infect healthy young volunteers with the virus that causes COVID-19. The aim is to speed up development of a vaccine¹ that could help end the worldwide pandemic.

This kind of research is known as a human challenge study. It is not used often because some people consider it morally wrong to infect healthy individuals for medical tests. But researchers say the risk is worth it. Such studies can quickly identify the most effective vaccines².

Peter Openshaw is one of the investigators³ leading the research. He said the studies are "enormously informative⁴ about a disease, even one so well studied as COVID-19."

Human challenge studies have been used to develop vaccines for diseases including typhoid, cholera⁵ and malaria⁶.

The study will involve volunteers between the ages of 18 and 30. The Imperial College London said Tuesday that the study would be carried out in partnership⁷ with the government's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. Also in the partnership is hVIVO, a company that has experience with human challenge studies.

The British government plans to spend $43.4 million on the research.

Governments around the world are funding efforts to develop a vaccine in hopes of ending the spread of the new coronavirus. At least 44 possible vaccines are already in human testing. The Associated Press reports that 11 vaccines are in late-stage trials. Several are expected to report results later this year or in early 2021.

The Imperial College partnership is expected to begin in January. Results are expected by May. However, the work must be approved by ethics⁸ committees and officials.

While one or more vaccines are likely to be approved before that time, the study will still be important, said Dr. Michael Jacobs. Jacobs said the world may need several vaccines to protect different groups within a population. Treatments for those who continue to get sick will also be needed. Jacobs is an infectious diseases expert at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and will be involved in the research.

How a human challenge study works

In the first part of the British study, researchers will expose 90 paid volunteers to the virus using small amounts of liquid in the nose. This will be done to find out the lowest level of exposure needed to cause COVID-19.

The researchers will use a similar method to test the effectiveness of possible vaccines. They will expose volunteers to the virus after they have received one of the candidate vaccines.

The research will take place at the Royal Free Hospital in London, which has an area designed to contain the disease. Volunteers will be monitored for at least one year to make sure they do not suffer any long-term effects.

Danica Marcos is 22 years old. She hopes to take part in the study. "So many people (are) struggling right now, and I want this pandemic to be over," she told The Associated Press. "If this vaccine trial could mean that this period of trauma⁹ for the whole world will be over sooner, I want to help. I want to be part of that," Marcos said.

Challenge studies are usually used to test vaccines against mild infections. The aim is to avoid infecting volunteers with a serious sickness if the vaccine does not work. The coronavirus causes only mild or moderate problems in most people and seems to be mild in young, healthy individuals.

The long-term effects of the disease, however, are not well understood. There have been reports of continuing problems in the heart and other organs even in those who did not feel sick.

In the United States, the National Institutes of Health, NIH, has not pushed the need for challenge studies because vaccines are being developed so quickly. However, the NIH has taken early steps to prepare for such research in case the method is one day required. Those steps include examining the ethics of a challenge study and developing funds to create laboratory viruses used in such research.

Words in This Story

pandemic – n. the fast spread of an infectious disease over a wide area or large part of the world

challenge - n. a difficult task or problem : something that is hard to do

enormously –adv. to a very great size, amount or extent

funding – n. money given to a group or organization

stage - n. a particular point or period in the development of something

ethics – n. rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad

expose - v. to cause someone to experience something or to be influenced or affected¹⁰ by something

monitored –adj. related to being watched or observed over a period of time for a special purpose such as a medical one

trauma – n. a very difficult or unpleasant experience that causes someone to have mental or emotional problems usually for a long time

mild – adj. not harsh or severe

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 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。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 informative   

adj.提供资料的，增进知识的

参考例句：

• The adverts are not very informative.这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。
• This intriguing book is both thoughtful and informative.这本引人入胜的书既有思想性又富知识性。

5 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

6 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。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

9 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

10 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。