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埃博拉疫苗试验在西非进行

Ebola has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people in West Africa. Since last summer, researchers have rushed to get anti-Ebola vaccines² into clinical trials. While it's too early to say that any of the potential vaccines work, some scientists say they are seeing strong results from some of the studies.

埃博拉已经在西非夺去了一万多人的生命。去年夏天开始，研究人员就加紧把埃博拉病毒疫苗投入临床试验。尽管现在还看不出哪一种疫苗有效，但是一些科学人员说，他们从部分研究中发现了很有力的结果。

It's ironic³...just as the Ebola epidemic⁴ in West Africa seems to be waning⁵, clinical trials of potential vaccines are underway there.

西非的埃博拉疫情看起来有所好转，但潜在疫苗的临床试验也在那里进行。

A vaccine¹ candidate is currently being tested in Guinea, where the Ebola virus is still active. Those likely to get the vaccine are medical workers and people who have been exposed to the virus.

一种候选疫苗目前正在几内亚接受测试，那里的埃博拉病毒仍然很活跃。这种疫苗的可能接种对象是医务工作者和暴露在病毒环境中的人。

Liberia has so few new Ebola cases that a clinical vaccine trial started there may be continued in Sierra Leone or Guinea.

由于利比里亚的埃博拉新病例极少，在那里开始的疫苗临床试验可能会转移到塞拉利昂或几内亚。

At Emory University in the U.S., an investigational⁶ vaccine was given to an American doctor who may have been exposed to the virus at an Ebola treatment unit in Sierra Leone. Dr. Mark Mulligan reported the effects of the vaccine in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

在美国艾莫利大学，一位曾在塞拉利昂的埃博拉治疗单位工作过的美国医生接种了一种调查型疫苗。马克·马利根医生在美国医学会杂志上介绍了这种疫苗的作用。

“We saw strong responses from the innate⁷ immune system, the immediate⁸ responses, the first defenders⁹ in our body, and also from the subsequent antibodies and T cells that we want a vaccine to produce," said Mulligan.

他说：“我们发现先天免疫系统反应强烈而迅速。这种反应来自于我们身体的第一层守卫，也来自我们希望疫苗产生的后续抗体和T淋巴细胞。”

The patient did not develop the Ebola virus, and he may not have been infected, but the immune response is what doctors hoped to see.

这个病人身体中的埃博拉病毒没有发展，他可能没有被感染，但是免疫系统的反应是医生们希望看到的。

Dr. Thomas Geisbert was one of the researchers who developed this potential vaccine. Despite reports that researchers are closing in on an effective vaccine, he says there's still a lot of work to do.

托马斯·盖斯伯特医生是这种潜在疫苗的研究者之一。尽管报告显示研究者们就快成功了，盖斯伯特医生说还有许多工作要做。

"A lot of these different vaccines and treatments were developed against one species of Ebola, and a particular strain of that species, so there are five different species of Ebola virus. Three of those cause disease and morbidity¹⁰, mortality in man," said Geisbert.

他说：“许多不同的疫苗和疗法都是用来对抗一种埃博拉病毒和一种特定菌株的，但是一共有五种不同的埃博拉病毒。他们中的三种可以致病和致命。”

Dr. Geisbert says a vaccine that might work against the Zaire Ebola virus, the species circulating in west Africa, might not work against against another type of deadly Ebola virus.

盖斯伯特医生说，疫苗或许可以对抗在西非传播的扎伊尔埃博拉病毒，而对其他种类的致命埃博拉病毒可能无效。

But, if the vaccines are proven to work, Dr. Jesse Goodman says they could still be used in West Africa.

但是杰西·古德曼医生说，如果疫苗被证明有效，他们可以继续在西非使用。

"It could benefit people if this outbreak went the wrong way again. And, even more importantly, these could be incredibly important tools for future outbreaks," said Goodman.

The results of the vaccine trial in Guinea could be available in July.

几内亚的疫苗试验结果将在7月份揭晓。