VOA标准英语2014--健康护理专家考虑不同的方法处理埃博拉病毒

 

Health Care Specialists Consider Different Treatments for Ebola 健康护理专家考虑不同的方法处理埃博拉病毒

In West Africa, the World Health Organization says the Ebola virus has so far infected over 3,700 people and killed over 1,800.   There is no cure for disease, and a potential vaccine¹ could be months, or years, away. 

However, some health care professionals are looking at alternative approaches for helping² Ebola patients survive the virus.

Sharing antibodies

One option gives an infected patient a transfusion³ of blood from those who have recovered from Ebola.  Their plasma⁴, the liquid part of the blood, contains antibodies that have successfully fought off the virus.

The process of separating the plasma – and its antibodies --  from the blood of survivors⁵ is called plasmapheresis.

Recently, an American doctor infected in Liberia, Kent Brantly, received a transfusion from an Ebola survivor⁶.  And, the New York Times cites a professor of virology in Nigeria who says the procedure is being considered using the blood taken from five survivors in the country. 

Dr.  David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene⁷ and Tropical Medicine, says it was used in the 1970's during the first Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, in what was then Zaire – now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Dr. Heymann was involved in treating infected persons in that emergency, and also led a response team during another in Kikwit 19 years later.

"I stayed two and half months after the first Ebola outbreak in 1976 and did plasmapheresis on survivors [so] that that blood could be stored [at various points] around Africa," he said.  "[It was used one time to treat a laboratory scientist in the UK who had been exposed to Ebola in a laboratory accident.] Then in 1995 in [another] Kikwit outbreak, the government decided⁸ that it would use [blood containing antibodies] collected from survivors to treat eight patients.  Seven of them survived. 

Dr. Heymann said it’s not clear whether the antibodies were behind the survival of the seven infected patients, and further study is necessary to verify the effectiveness of the procedure.

Readily available drugs

Another potential approach is to test existing drugs that may help Ebola patients.   Many of these are generic⁹ and inexpensive.  A New York Times editorial suggests medications that are already used to disable other viruses, as well as drugs that modulate¹⁰ the immune system’s inflammatory response. 

That’s the defensive¹¹ action taken by the body against the virus, which can sometimes lead to organ failure and other deadly complications.

Among these drugs is a class of drugs called statins, such as Lipitor, which reduce cholesterol¹². 

Dr. Heymann and others support the approach of studying medicines shown to be effective against Ebola in animal studies."I think that before any medication could be used [to treat Ebola patients]," said Heymann, " it would need to be shown to be effective, at least in an animal model.  They should not be used unless they are in a clinical trial setting [that can demonstrated whether they are effective in humans].  It’s the countries themselves that make the decisions [to allow these medications] and hopefully the [World Health Organization] would support their decision."

Effectivness of quarantines

Currently, some countries are quarantining neighborhoods and villages.  They’ve also created road blocks and patrols to prevent infected persons from crossing borders.  And some are proposing protective barriers or buffers¹³ around infected villages, called cordons¹⁴ sanitaires.  Dr. Heymann says in his view,  that’s not the most effective approach. 

"All cordons sanitaires would do is stop [some persons with Ebola infection from moving, but also disrupt] legal and legitimate¹⁶ travel and commerce," he said.  " But with porous¹⁷ borders [as in many African countries]…it could be setting up a feeling of false security.  What’s more important is that everybody should understand the disease and how to deal with it. 

"In the 1995 Kikwit outbreak, for example, the government of DRC put up a cordon¹⁵ sanitaire [to quarantine] the area where the outbreak was occurring.  People, however,  were just [moving out of]  the area where there were no [roadblocks]…. [Some] went [to neighboring villages]  by boat on a nearby river. "

Known remedy

Dr. Heymann said the best response was learned in Kikwit nearly 40 years ago.  Stopping an outbreak means improving hospitals so infections do not spread to health workers and other patients -- and tracing everyone who’s come in contact with a person infected with Ebola.  They would be put under surveillance and hospitalized if they develop a fever caused by the virus.

The community must also understand how the virus is spread.  It’s transmitted by contact with the infected person’s bodily fluids, including vomit¹⁸, urine or diarrhea.  Transmission often occurs during care giving, transport, or as part of traditional burial practices that include touching¹⁹ the body.

According to Dr. Heymann,  the outbreak would likely have been under control in Guinea earlier this year if these measures had been taken when Ebola was first detected.

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 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。

3 transfusion   

n.输血，输液

参考例句：

• She soon came to her senses after a blood transfusion.输血后不久她就苏醒了。
• The doctor kept him alive by a blood transfusion.医生靠输血使他仍然活着。

4 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。

5 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

6 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。

7 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

10 modulate   

v.调整，调节(音的强弱)；变调

参考例句：

• Please modulate the sound on the TV.请调节一下电视的音量。
• This system could modulate the voice signal effectively.这个系统可以对语音信号进行有效的调制。

11 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

12 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

13 buffers   

起缓冲作用的人（或物）( buffer的名词复数 )； 缓冲器； 减震器； 愚蠢老头

参考例句：

• To allocate and schedule the use of buffers. 分配和计划缓冲器的使用。
• Number of times the stream has paused due to insufficient stream buffers. 由于流缓冲区不足导致流程暂停的次数。

14 cordons   

n.警戒线，警戒圈( cordon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Demonstrators attacked police cordons with sticks and assorted missiles. 示威者用棍棒和各种投射物向警察的封锁线进攻。 来自辞典例句

15 cordon   

n.警戒线，哨兵线

参考例句：

• Police officers threw a cordon around his car to protect him.警察在他汽车周围设置了防卫圈以保护他。
• There is a tight security cordon around the area.这一地区周围设有严密的安全警戒圈。

16 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

17 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

18 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

19 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。