耐药菌威胁全球公共健康

 　　WASHINGTON — Doctors have long warned against prolonged use of antibiotics², saying that bacteria can build resistance to drugs, eventually rendering³ them ineffective. The World Health Organization reported Wednesday that antibiotic¹-resistant bacteria now exist in many parts of the world. Some diseases that once could easily be cured by antibiotics have now become deadly.

　　The Geneva-based WHO said its survey shows very high rates of drug-resistant E. coli bacteria, which can cause meningitis and infections of the skin, blood, kidneys and other organs. The agency's assistant director-general, Keiji Fukuda, said Wednesday that the survey also found worrying rates of resistance in other bacteria, such as those that cause pneumonia⁴, diarrhea, urinary tract⁵ infections and gonorrhea.

　　"It's clear that rates are very high of resistance among bacteria, causing many of the most common serious infections, the ones that we see both occurring in the community, as well as in hospitals," said Fukuda.

　　Romanian doctor Adrian Cercel said he has virtually no treatment left for some of his patients.

　　"During the last 20 years, the bacteria have developed very sophisticated resistance mechanisms⁶, and we are facing a situation in which we don't have antibiotics to treat the patient due to the existence of pan-resistant germs," said Cercel.

　　The WHO's survey shows that in some countries, many types of bacterial⁷ infections do not respond to antibiotic treatment in more than half of patients. Public health specialists blame overconsumption of antibiotics, which are often prescribed for non-bacterial ailments⁸. Jean-Baptiste Ronat, with the group Doctors Without Borders, said that people also can consume the drug inadvertently by eating meat from animals that have been treated with antibiotics.

　　"So the two main dangers, actually, [are] the use and the overuse of antibiotics in food factories and animal production - especially the fact that we use antibiotics as growth factors since ages in the U.S. and all over the world. It has been restricted in Europe since 2001. And the second one is the overuse in human health. Taking into account that most of the time people take antibiotics because they have a common cold and because the patient want[s] antibiotics," said Ronat.

　　Ronat and others said the world is returning to conditions similar to the era before antibiotics.

　　"That means in the 19th [century], so before the first world war, where we had no antibiotics and where we were just dying because of a urinary tract infection or because of a pulmonary infection. So this is what is going to happen in the future," predicted Ronat.

　　The WHO report describes the problem as a major threat to global public health. It recommends that people use antibiotics only when prescribed by a doctor. They should complete the full prescription⁹, never share antibiotics with others, and never use leftover¹⁰ prescriptions¹¹.

1 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

2 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

3 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

4 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

5 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

6 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

8 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

9 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

10 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

11 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。