2020年经济学人 新冠疫苗—艰难与困苦(2)

America's behaviour is not much better. Again, the approach behind the product approved is reasonable in principle, but insufficiently¹ tested.

美国的做法也好不到哪去。同样，被批准产品背后的方法在原则上是合理的，但是没有经过充分的测试。

Convalescent plasma² therapy transfuses³ blood plasma from those who have recovered from an infection

恢复期血浆疗法将新冠康复者的血浆

(and which is therefore rich in antibodies against whatever had infected them) into patients with the illness to be treated.

（因此血浆中富含抗体来对抗感染它们的病毒）输入待治疗患者体内。

As Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the World Health Organisation⁴ (WHO), observes,

正如世界卫生组织（WHO）的首席科学家Soumya Swaminathan所观察，

this tactic⁵ has been used to treat infectious diseases for over 100 years, and is effective against some, but not others.

在一百多年前，这种策略被用于治疗感染性疾病，且对一些疾病有效，一些无效。

Trials of it as a treatment of covid-19 are therefore under way around the planet,

所以将它作为一种治疗新冠的方法正在全球进行中，

but Dr Swaminathan says the results so far are "not conclusive⁶", and the trials themselves have been small.

但Swaminathan博士表示到目前为止，结果“并不具备决定性”，而且试验本身规模也很小。

As a result, the WHO considers it an "experimental therapy".

因此，WHO将它看做是一种“实验治疗”。

Not so, apparently⁷, the FDA. Mr Trump⁸ made his announcement with Dr Hahn on the same platform. Two things have upset people about this.

显然，FDA并非如此。特朗普和哈恩博士在同一平台发表声明。两件事让人们对此感到不安。

One is that the basis for the emergency approval was an observational study of ways of administering plasma

一个是紧急批准的基础是一项血浆管理方法的观察研究

(either less or more than three days after diagnosis) rather than a randomised controlled trial

（诊断后少于或多于三天）而不是随机对照试验

in which some patients were given a placebo⁹ instead of the treatment under test.

在对照实验中，一些患者被给予安慰剂，而不是实施治疗。

The other is that, even granted this difference, the advantage seen in the study in question was too inconclusive to justify¹⁰ the approval given.

另一个是，即使存在这种差异，在该研究中看到的优势也不是决定性的，所以无法证明批准是合理的。

Dr Hahn described the benefits of treating early with convalescent plasma by saying that,

哈恩是这样描述早期用恢复期血浆疗法治疗的好处的：

"if the data continue to pan out, of 100 people who are sick with covid-19, 35 would have been saved because of the administration of plasma".

“如果数据证明是成功的，那么在100名感染新冠的患者中，有35人会因为使用血浆而获救”。

Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at the George Washington University Medical Centre,

乔治华盛顿大学医学中心的医学教授Jonathan Reiner

tweeted that this was "shockingly wrong", and that the actual figure was 3.2.

发推文称，这是“令人震惊的错误”，实际数字是3.2。

Dr Hahn has since clarified that he confused the relative reduction in risk of mortality

哈恩博士随后澄清说，他混淆了死亡率风险的相对降低率

(of 35% between the two arms of the study) with an absolute risk reduction. That is a pretty fundamental mistake.

（两组研究中降低了35%）和绝对危险度降低率。这是一个非常基本的错误。

Extrapolating from a single case is risky¹¹, but this one calls into question how long someone who recovers from infection retains immunity¹² from re-infection.

从单个病例进行推断是有风险的，但这引发了一个问题，新冠康复者的免疫力能够维持多久。

The answer is crucial to understanding how herd¹³ immunity to the virus develops in populations,

这个答案对理解，对病毒的群体免疫力是如何在群体中产生的很关键，

and may also have implications for vaccine¹⁴ development.

且也可能对疫苗开发有影响。

Doctors will now be looking hard for similar examples, so that such understanding can be improved.

现在，医生们将努力寻找类似的例子，以便提高对这方面的理解。

1 insufficiently   

adv.不够地，不能胜任地

参考例句：

• Your insurance card is insufficiently stamped. 你的保险卡片未贴足印花。 来自辞典例句
• Many of Britain's people are poorly dressed, badly housed, insufficiently nourished. 许多英国人衣着寒伧，居住简陋，营养不良。 来自互联网

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 transfuses   

v.输（血或别的液体）( transfuse的第三人称单数 )；渗透；使…被灌输或传达

参考例句：

• The treatment by transfuses blood repeatedly, the adrenal cortex hormone primarily, partial blood transfusion safe reliable. 治疗以反复输血、肾上腺皮质激素为主，成分输血安全可靠。 来自互联网

4 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

5 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

6 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

9 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

10 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

11 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

12 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

13 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

14 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。