DEVELOPMENT REPORT - 80 Million Treated Against Elephantiasi

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - 80 Million Treated Against Elephantiasis
By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, April 19, 2004

This is Robert Cohen with the VOA Special English Development Report.

 
Elephantiasis Patient
Four years ago, the World Health Organization and other groups began a campaign to end lymphatic filariasis. This disease is a leading cause of disability in developing countries. Left untreated, fluid collects in tissue. Lymphatic filariasis can cause severe enlargement of the legs, arms and areas around the sexual organs. The disease is commonly known as elephantiasis.

The cause is a parasite². It is spread to humans through the bite of mosquitoes that carry the organism. Early signs of the disease in children include learning problems and reduced growth. Once infected, humans can pass the parasite back to other mosquitoes that bite them.

About one-hundred-twenty-million people in eighty countries are infected with lymphatic filariasis. Most of these people are in Africa, Southeast Asia, South America and islands of the Pacific Ocean. The countries have a total population of more than one-thousand-million people.

The Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis has released a progress report on the treatment campaign. The group says eighty-million people have begun treatment against the disease. Two drug companies, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck, are providing medicines for free.

Individuals take two drugs once a year. This combined treatment stops the spread of elephantiasis. But it will not undo³ any damage already caused by the disease.

The first drug is albendazol, made by GlaxoSmithKline. This drug also kills several other kinds of parasites⁴ that can infect the intestines⁵. These include roundworm, whipworm and hookworm.

A second drug commonly given against lymphatic filariasis is called ivermectin. The Merck company manufactures it. This drug is also used to fight river blindness.

The parasite that causes lymphatic filariasis grows slowly. It is not expected to develop a resistance to the drug treatment. In addition, treatment costs are low – between ten cents and two dollars per person per year. Health officials want to put people on five-year treatment plans. The goal of the campaign is to end the disease worldwide within twenty years.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. This is Robert Cohen.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 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。

3 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

4 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

5 intestines   

n.肠( intestine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perhaps the most serious problems occur in the stomach and intestines. 最严重的问题或许出现在胃和肠里。 来自辞典例句
• The traps of carnivorous plants function a little like the stomachs and small intestines of animals. 食肉植物的捕蝇器起着动物的胃和小肠的作用。 来自辞典例句