新闻周刊:新冠病毒变种Lambda引起世卫组织注意（在线收听）

Lambda Vs. Delta Variants — What to Know As New Forms of COVID Spread in U.S.

Lambda变种vs.Delta变种——新冠病毒在美国传播的新形式

A hospital in Houston has reported a case of the Lambda variant of COVID-19 this week as the U.S. continues to see a marked rise in coronavirus infections.

休斯顿一家医院本周报告了一例Lambda变种新冠病例，与此同时美国的新冠病毒感染病例持续显著增长。

More than 80 percent of all COVID cases across the country are thought to involve the Delta variant, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

根据美国疾病控制和预防中心(CDC)的数据，全国超过80%的新冠病毒病例被认为与Delta变种有关。

The Lambda variant has attracted attention in recent weeks, however, particularly because the World Health Organization declared it a "variant of interest" on June 14.

然而，Lambda变种在最近几周引起了关注，特别是因为世界卫生组织在6月14日宣布它为“感兴趣的变体”。

This designation means it has genetic changes that can affect how transmissible it is and the severity of the illness it causes, among other factors.

这一指称意味着它的基因变化可能会影响其传染性和其导致的疾病的严重程度，以及其他因素。

The Lambda variant, also known as C.37, was first documented last December in Peru, according to the WHO.

据世界卫生组织称，Lambda变种，也被称为C.37，去年12月在秘鲁首次被发现记录下来。

Just under 700 cases have been identified in the U.S., according to the website CoV-lineages.org.

根据CoV-lineages.org网站的数据，美国已确诊的病例不到700例。

However, experts have told Newsweek that little is known about Lambda, including how resistant it is to vaccines and exactly how much risk it poses.

然而，专家们告诉《新闻周刊》，人们对Lambda知之甚少，包括它对疫苗的抗药性，以及它到底确切有多大风险。

Dr Julian Tang, professor of respiratory sciences at the University of Leicester in the U.K., thinks that Delta is a more serious variant than Lambda, based on current data.

英国莱斯特大学呼吸科学教授朱利安·唐博士认为，基于目前的数据，Delta变体比Lambda变体更严重。

He told Newsweek there was no real-world large population data yet on how the Lambda variant might resist vaccines, but did point to two non-peer-reviewed studies suggesting it may possess similar vaccine-resistance properties as the Alpha and Gamma variants.

他告诉《新闻周刊》，目前还没有关于Lambda变种如何抵抗疫苗的真实大规模人口数据，但他指出，两项非同行评审的研究表明，Lambda变种可能具有与Alpha和Gamma变种相似的疫苗耐药特性。

Tang added that the Delta variant, by comparison, showed "a much larger vaccine-escape capability" — a reduction in the overall effectiveness of existing vaccines against it.

唐补充说，相比之下，Delta变种显示出“更强的疫苗逃逸能力”——这降低了现有疫苗的整体有效性。