【英语语言学习】埃博拉病毒对抗日记

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now to a very personal story from the front lines of the ongoing¹ fight against Ebola in one of the countries hardest hit - Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization reports that the Ebola epidemic² in that country may be leveling off, although, nearly 250 new cases were reported there last week. And two promising³ Ebola vaccines⁴ will soon be tested on healthy volunteers in West Africa.

Since early December, American doctor, Joel Selanikio has been treating Ebola patients in Lunsar, Sierra Leone, about 60 miles from the capitol of Freetown. As he wrapped up his tour with the International Medical Corps⁵, he sent along this audio diary of his time in the epidemic's hot zone.

In his first entry, Selanikio is getting ready to enter the Ebola ward⁶, and he's suiting up in his PPE. This is personal protective equipment. A word of caution here, some listeners may find portions of this story disturbing.

(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIO DIARY)

DR. JOEL SELANIKIO: I rounded on a 16-year-old girl a few days ago. Her name was Hawanatu (ph), or Hawa (ph) for short. When I first saw her under her blanket, I thought that she must be an amputee. Then I realized that she was just a very, very small, thin girl. I didn't get to Hawa the next day and today, I rounded on her again. For the first time in two days wanting to examine her fully⁷, I pulled away her blanket and found that rather than just having a rash, her entire body surface was peeling off in thick pieces, revealing very, very red painful-looking skin underneath⁸.

Honestly, every person around that bed literally⁹ gasped¹⁰ when they saw what she looked like. It was like a burn victim. I've honestly never seen anything like it except in a burn victim.

It's really hard to describe all the emotions that I felt when I realized what this 16-year-old girl had been going through while supposedly under my care. But I can say that mostly I felt ashamed because I had agreed to care for her, and I hadn't. It's a hard, hard thing to realize that your actions or your inactions have harmed a child.

Martha (ph) was a baby girl about 13 months old whose mother had died at our facility. When Martha came in, she seemed like a normal, healthy baby. She was drinking well, eating well, smiling and active. But over the next few days, she became more irritable¹¹ and less active, drinking and eating less. And we could see her becoming dehydrated despite our efforts to provide IV fluids. Because unlike in a normal hospital setting, we didn't have the staff or the IV pumps to provide continuous fluids or continuous observation of Martha.

On the third day, she lost her IV access and still wasn't drinking. For about 45 minutes, I cradled her in one of my arms and used my other hand to squirt oral rehydration solution into her mouth with a syringe. She drank like she was starving to death, which she was. And the next morning, she was dead.

One of the things that has surprised me here, although it probably shouldn't, is how fast death has become part of my routine. Of course, I knew from the news that many Ebola patients die. And I knew that many of my Ebola patients would die. And I knew from years of working in hospitals and health care that care providers, doctors, nurses, everyone else, can't function if they breakdown¹² every time a patient dies. So I knew that I would handle it. I'd compartmentalize it. Still a few weeks into this, I've certified¹³ the deaths of more patients than in my last two decades. And I'm shocked to the degree to which it has just become part of my daily routine.

So Martin (ph), a 19-year-old boy, was double negative today. That is he got the second of two negative Ebola tests separated by 48 hours proving that he was now cured and can go home. I remembered when he'd come in very sick and also he was tired of living, he said, because his father had died. And he said, I'm going to die like my father. And I said, no, you're not going to die Martin, you're going to fight it. And you're going to drink, and you're going to eat, and you're going to rest, and you're going to live for your father. And I thought about that while I was laughing and clapping for Martin. And then I thought about little Martha who had died and Hawa with the skin condition and Aminata (ph) and Ibrahim (ph) and Sori (ph) and Ahmed (ph) who had died. And I was crying inside my PPE behind my fogged up goggles¹⁴ just crying to myself.

(SOUNDBITE OF CELEBRATION)

SELANIKIO: When a confirmed Ebola patient manages to defy the odds¹⁵ and fight the disease, they can be discharged. At that point, the patient is brought out of the confirmed award inside the hot zone, led into a little shower building that straddles the hot and the cold zones and which is referred to by the staff as the "showers of glory," quote-unquote. And they emerge reborn, as it were, from the hot zone into the world. And the patient is welcomed out of the shower with all kinds of clapping and shouting, music and lots and lots of dancing. Really excited that we managed to save one more person.

(SOUNDBITE OF CELEBRATION)

MARTIN: That was an audio diary from Dr. Joel Selanikio. He finished his tour of duty in Sierra Leone this weekend. He is headed home to Washington, D.C.

1 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。

2 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

4 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。

5 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

7 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。

8 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

12 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

13 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

14 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

15 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？