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Steve Baragona
Polio is on the ropes. A $3 billion global campaign has driven the crippling and sometimes-fatal disease to just six source countries. Experts say the campaign has the potential to win the war this year. Polio would then join only smallpox in the very short book of eradication success stories.
But achieving final victory will not be easy. Wiping polio out of the last few strongholds will be the hardest.
The click-clacking of weavers' looms rattles through the village of Sarva in Uttar Pradesh. Weavers from India's Muslim minority are making silk saris for the women of the Hindu majority. This northern Indian state is one of polio's last strongholds.
That's in part because when the campaign to vaccinate children against the disease comes knocking, many people here don't answer.
"This is a typical case. They are not even opening the door," Polio eradication campaign official, Subodh Kumar, says in some villages, vaccinators find that parents go to great lengths to hide their children.
"They went to one of the houses where [the parents] said, 'There is no child. [The] child has gone to school.' But [the vaccinators] said, 'The child is not of that age to go to school. Where is the child?' They went in and they found the child was under the blanket," he recalled.
Some parents hide their children because of rumors that the vaccine will make children infertile, or harm their health some other way. Officials know that unless they can convince parents in these last few pockets of resistance that the polio vaccine is safe, the eradication effort will fail. In Nigeria, misinformation about the vaccine has shut down vaccination programs, causing an outbreak that has spread the disease to polio-free countries.
So Indian health officials are pulling out all the stops. In Sarva and a few other villages where resistance is strongest, 10-person teams have been assembled, including local doctors, religious leaders, and other community members. Their mission is to go house by house, convincing, cajoling, and if necessary browbeating parents into vaccinating their children.
The team meets this man outside his home in Sarva. He's heard the false rumors that the vaccine is dangerous.
"I had 12 children," he said, "and I'm left with just two. The rest of them died. I just don't have the courage to let the doctor give my child the vaccine."
It's not an unusual story. Child mortality rates in Uttar Pradesh are among the highest in the world. The team tries to reassure him that the vaccine won't do any harm. They say look at all the other neighborhood children who have taken the vaccine with no ill effects. At the same time, they urge the father to think of what can happen if his children don't get vaccinated. Team member and local doctor Awadhesh Kumar Singh notes that polio victims are a common sight in India.
"You've seen children who have had polio," he said. "It's very difficult for them to walk. Think of your neighbor's child, how difficult it is for him to walk."
But still the father is not convinced. He stands frowning, arms crossed and silent as the team tries different approaches. But it's no use. After 15 minutes, he storms off without agreeing. So the team heads across town, past the rattling looms, to see his father.
The children's grandfather sells betelnut packets, a mildly narcotic treat that's popular in India. The team finds him sitting in the wooden box on stilts that serves as his roadside stall. Dr. Singh asks for permission to vaccinate his grandchildren.
"Is it necessary?" the grandfather asked.
"Yes," Dr. Singh answered. "And if all the children in your family don't get vaccinated, polio will spread to other children. If one child is left unvaccinated, the vaccine won't work," he said.
That's because it can take up to 10 doses of vaccine to provide complete protection. One child with polio can infect others who haven't completed the course of vaccination. And, he says, it's essential to give the vaccine before the child gets sick.
"If a dog bites," Dr. Singh said, "the victim can go get a vaccine against rabies. But if polio strikes, it's too late. There is no cure, only prevention. "
注释：
polio [5pEJlIEJ] n. 脊髓灰质炎
on the ropes 即将完蛋
smallpox [5smC:lpRks] n. 天花
eradication [i7rAdi5keiFEn] n. 连根拔除，根除
stronghold [5strRNhEJld] n. 中心地
click-clacking n. 嘀哒噼啪声
weaver [5wi:vE] n. 织布者，织工
loom [lu:m] n. 织布机，织机
rattle [5rAtl] v. 发出卡嗒卡嗒声
Uttar Pradesh 北方邦（印度最大的邦）
sari [5sB:rI] n. 纱丽
vaccinate [5vAksineit] v. 进行预防接种
vaccinator [5vAksIneItE(r)] n. 接种员
vaccine [5vAksi:n] n. 疫苗
infertile [in5fE:tail] adj. 不育的
pocket [5pRkIt] n. 一团，一群
misinformation [5misinfE5meiFEn] n. 误传
shut down 停止
cajole [kE5dVEul] vt. （以甜言蜜语）哄骗
browbeat [5braJbi:t] v. 恫吓，吓唬
mortality rate 死亡率
reassure [ri:E5FuE] vt. 使……安心
storm off 怒气冲冲地离开
betelnut [5bi:tElnQt] n. 槟榔
narcotic [nB:5kCtik] adj. 麻醉的
stilt [stilt] n. 支柱
stall [stC:l] n. 货摊
rabies [5reIbIz] n. 狂犬病 |