VOA慢速英语2020 研究幸存者血浆以预防冠状病毒感染

Survivor¹ Plasma² Studied to Possibly Prevent Coronavirus Infection

Researchers are launching a study to see whether blood plasma from coronavirus survivors³ can block infection in others.

The study will involve people in groups at high risk of getting infected. This could include health workers, husbands or wives of sick individuals and people who live in nursing homes.

The new research will build on recent studies that looked into whether blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients could be an effective treatment for infected individuals.

Plasma is the yellowish, liquid part of blood. It contains proteins called antibodies that target infections entering the body. Blood plasma from former patients may help infected individuals defeat COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Many survivors of COVID-19 have donated their blood plasma in hopes of helping⁴ sick patients recover.

Thousands of coronavirus patients in hospitals around the world have been treated with this kind of plasma, including more than 20,000 in the United States.

So far, there is little evidence to demonstrate that blood plasma is helping coronavirus patients recover. One recent study from China had unclear results. Another from New York showed only small benefits.

Dr. Shmuel Shoham of America's Johns Hopkins University told The Associated Press that the studies do provide some "glimmers⁵ of hope." Shoham will lead the new study on whether the plasma can prevent infections entirely⁶.

Researchers plan to use 150 volunteers for the study. Some of the test subjects will receive plasma from COVID-19 survivors that contains coronavirus-fighting antibodies. Others will receive a kind of plasma used daily in hospitals. Scientists will examine whether there are differences in who gets sick.

If the survivor plasma works, it could play a major part in reducing the number of coronavirus infections until a vaccine⁷ is approved. The researchers say the survivor plasma could be given to high-risk individuals to temporarily strengthen the immune system.

"They're a paramedic, they're a police officer, they're a poultry⁸ industry worker, they're a submarine naval⁹ officer," Shoham said. "Can we blanket protect them?"

As more people survive COVID-19, there are increasing calls for them to donate plasma to build up the nation's supply, in case the treatments prove to be effective.

Donated blood plasma is also sometimes combined with products designed to make the plasma stronger. The Spanish chemical company Grifols is expected to create a version of donor¹⁰ plasma that is filled with a large amount of antibodies.

Using blood plasma directly from recovered patients seems to be safe, Dr. Michael Joyner of the Mayo Clinic reported last month. His team followed the first 5,000 people to receive plasma in a program run by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The program, which helps hospitals carry out the experimental treatment, found few serious side effects in patients.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

研究幸存者血浆以预防冠状病毒感染

研究人员正在开展一项研究，以观察冠状病毒幸存者的血浆能否阻断其他人的感染。

这项研究将涉及高危感染人群。这可能包括卫生工作者、患者的丈夫或妻子以及养老院居民。

这项新研究将以最近的研究为基础，后者研究了冠状病毒康复患者的血浆能否有效治疗感染者。

血浆是血液中淡黄色的液体部分。血浆包括名为抗体的蛋白质，抗体会攻击进入体内的感染。康复患者的血浆可能有助于感染者战胜由冠状病毒引发的疾病新冠肺炎。

许多新冠肺炎幸存者捐献了他们的血浆，希望帮助其他患者康复。

全球各地医院的数千名冠状病毒患者用这种血浆进行治疗，其中包括2万多名美国患者。

截至目前，几乎没有证据证明血浆有助于冠状病毒患者康复。中国最近进行的一项研究得出了不确定的结果。另一项纽约进行的研究只显现出少许益处。

美国约翰霍普金斯大学的施穆埃尔·肖汉姆博士对美联社表示，这些研究确实提供了一些“希望的曙光”。肖汉姆将领导这项有关血浆能否完全阻止感染的新研究。

研究人员计划招募150名志愿者进行研究。一些试验对象将接受新冠肺炎幸存者的血浆，这些血浆中含有抗冠状病毒的抗体。其他人则将接受医院每日使用的血浆。科学家将研究患病者是否存在差异。

如果幸存者血浆起作用，那在疫苗获得批准之前，其可能在减少冠状病毒感染者人数方面发挥重要作用。研究人员表示，可以将幸存者血浆分给高风险人群，以暂时增强免疫系统。

肖汉姆说：“高风险人群包括医护人员、警察、家禽业工作者以及潜艇海军军官。我们能保护他们吗？”

随着越来越多的人在新冠肺炎中幸存下来，也有越来越多的人呼吁他们捐献血浆，以建立国家供应，以防这种治疗方法被证明是有效的。

捐献的血浆有时也会与旨在增强血浆的产品结合起来。西班牙化学公司基立福有望制造出一种含有大量抗体的供者血浆。

梅奥诊所的医生迈克尔·乔纳伊上个月报告称，直接使用康复患者的血浆似乎是安全的。他的团队对美国食品药品监督管理局运行的一个项目中首批接受血浆的5000人进行了追踪。

这个帮助医院开展实验性治疗的项目发现，患者很少出现严重的副作用。

布莱恩·林恩报道。

1 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

2 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 glimmers   

n.微光，闪光( glimmer的名词复数 )v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A faint lamp glimmers at the end of the passage. 一盏昏暗的灯在走廊尽头发出微弱的光线。 来自互联网
• The first glimmers of an export-led revival are apparent. 拉动出库复苏的第一缕曙光正出现。 来自互联网

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 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。

8 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

9 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

10 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。