VOA标准英语2010年-Polio Vaccine Protects with Just One-F

Efforts to eradicate¹ polio have been frustrated² by a variety of factors, and unlike smallpox³, the disease has defied long-running and expensive efforts to wipe it out. Now, a new study indicates that one of several polio vaccines⁵ can be effective at one-fifth the dose, cutting vaccination⁶ costs dramatically.

There are several different kinds of polio vaccine⁴. The oral vaccine – made with a weakened, live virus – has been used extensively in polio eradication⁷ efforts. World Health Organization polio official Roland Sutter says it's cheap and easy to use, "But it has one major side effect," he said. "It can rarely, very rarely, cause what we call vaccine-induced paralytic⁸ polio myelitis."

That's the very disease the vaccine is intended to prevent. So in countries where polio has already been eradicated⁹, the vaccine of choice uses a killed form of the polio virus. But Sutter says that vaccine has a different problem - its cost.

"The inactivated¹⁰ polio virus vaccine, IPV, is currently quite expensive. The cheapest way we possibly can get it now is about $3 a dose. And so, this compares to 15 cents for the oral polio virus vaccine."

There are several ways to bring down the price per dose. Manufacturing can be moved to developing countries, where costs are lower. The production process can be made more efficient. Extra ingredients, called adjuvants, can be added to the vaccine to make it more effective. Those are all on the table, but maybe the easiest way to cut the cost of vaccination is to reduce the amount of vaccine.

That's the subject of new research by Roland Sutter and colleagues from public health institutes in the U.S. and the Netherlands, and the Ministry¹¹ of Health in Oman.

In their study, one group of children in Oman was vaccinated¹² with the usual dose of the inactivated polio vaccine, while another group was vaccinated using only one-fifth the usual amount.

The ones who got the smaller dose were fully¹³ protected, even though the vaccine prompted production of fewer antibodies than with the full dose.

"So these lower levels are actually still quite good and will protect the child from polio," he said.

But Sutter cautions that reducing the amount of vaccine used by 80 percent doesn't lower the cost of vaccination by 80 percent. The actual vaccine amounts to only one-third or less of the cost of a vaccination program. But still, he says, it's a "huge step forward" in the ongoing¹⁴ battle against a crippling disease.

 

1 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

2 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

7 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

8 paralytic   

adj. 瘫痪的 n. 瘫痪病人

参考例句：

• She was completely paralytic last night.她昨天晚上喝得酩酊大醉。
• She rose and hobbled to me on her paralytic legs and kissed me.她站起来，拖着她那麻痹的双腿一瘸一拐地走到我身边，吻了吻我。

9 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

10 inactivated   

v.使不活泼，阻止活动( inactivate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Molluscicides are quickly inactivated by sunlight and adsorption to mud organic matter. 灭螺剂因阳光作用、泥土及有机物质的吸收会很快失效。 来自辞典例句
• Viruses were inactivated by BPL and the toxicity measured again. BPL对病毒进行灭活，测定残存毒力。 来自互联网

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

12 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。