VOA慢速英语--卫生官员敦促民众及时打流感疫苗

Health officials around the world are concerned about rising numbers of new coronavirus cases. But another highly infectious virus will soon be returning to Earth's Northern Hemisphere. That virus is influenza¹, commonly called the flu.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about eight percent of Americans get influenza each year. The flu season takes place during the winter months. During that time, hundreds of thousands of people are sick enough with the flu to be admitted to hospitals.

This year, with the U.S. health system already dealing² with COVID-19, medical experts are concerned about the return of the flu.

"We really, really want to emphasize the potential for disaster," said Jeanne Marrazzo. She directs the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is a member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America's board of directors.

Experts are urging Americans to get the flu vaccine³ in an effort to ease the pressure on healthcare workers and hospitals.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that as many as 61,000 people die from influenza in the United States each year. It adds that U.S. hospitals treat as many as 810,000 Americans infected with the flu. People older than age 65 or those who have other health conditions are at greatest risk.

But the United States and much of the world is already fighting the novel coronavirus. The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center reports that nearly 200,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.

"We still are on what we think of as a razor's edge with regard to COVID," Marrazzo noted⁴.

As summer comes to an end, "I expect it to get worse," said Michael Mina. He is an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

Rates of many respiratory diseases, including flu and the common cold, increase in autumn and winter. The reasons are not entirely⁵ understood, but the viruses that cause the diseases may spread more easily in colder, drier air than in warmer, wet weather.

Also, people spend less time outside the home in the winter and more time close to each other, often breathing the same air. Children may pass around viruses more readily in schools than when they are home for the summer and spending time outside.

It remains⁶ unclear how much the weather affects the spread of the coronavirus. Scientists are actively⁷ studying the question. The coronavirus is related to other viruses that cause the common cold. Mina noted, "what we see with those viruses is that come October, November, December they skyrocket."

"I hope that for some reason this virus behaves differently, but I don't anticipate that it will," he added.

Officials: flu shots are very important

While a safe coronavirus vaccine is in the future, U.S. health officials are urging everyone to get a flu shot as soon as possible.

In most years, not even half of all adult Americans get vaccinated⁸. The rate is even lower among minority groups. That is in part because getting a flu shot does not guarantee protection against the virus.

"Influenza vaccine in a good year is generally between 40 and 60 percent effective," said Walter Orenstein associate director of the Emory University Vaccine Center in Georgia. "Not perfect, but it's a lot better than zero percent effective, which is (what you get) if you don't get vaccinated."

The vaccine helps, even if it does not stop the infection, noted William Schaffner. He is an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.

"Even if you get influenza after you've had the vaccine, that illness is likely to be less severe," he said. "You're less likely to need to go to the emergency room, less likely to be hospitalized, less likely to die."

That is good news for patients, and it also helps the health care system. "The last thing we need is a huge surge of flu cases now," he added.

Vaccine manufacturers are expecting to produce a record supply of nearly 200 million doses of flu vaccine this year. However, the conditions making flu shots so important are the same conditions that make them harder to provide to everyone, Schaffner noted.

Fewer people will get flu shots at work this year because more people are working from home. Many public health centers are closed or are working on COVID-19 cases. Many people are avoiding doctor's offices completely out of fear of getting infected there.

Drug stores and supermarkets are still good places to get vaccinated, noted Jeanne Marrazzo of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. "People will probably need to be perhaps a little bit more creative," she said.

The steps taken to limit the spread of the coronavirus, such as covering one's face, hand washing and social distancing, all seem to work against the flu.

The World Health Organization says these measures are likely to have led to the mild flu season currently coming to a close in the Southern Hemisphere.

Words in This Story

hemisphere – n. a half of the Earth, usually divided between the northern and southern halves

emphasize –v. to give special importance or attention to something

razor's edge –n. a dangerous position in which two different things are carefully balanced

respiratory –adj. related to breathing and the lungs

humid –adj. when there is a lot of gaseous⁹ water in the air

skyrocket –v. to go up or increase at a very fast rate

anticipate –v. to expect something to happen in the future

dose –n. an amount of a medicine needed to give a good result

mild –n. not severe or strong

1 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 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。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

8 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

9 gaseous   

adj.气体的，气态的

参考例句：

• Air whether in the gaseous or liquid state is a fluid.空气，无论是气态的或是液态的，都是一种流体。
• Freon exists both in liquid and gaseous states.氟利昂有液态和气态两种形态。