VOA健康报道2024--UN Authorizes Second Shot to Fight Dengue in Americas

UN Authorizes¹ Second Shot to Fight Dengue in Americas

The World Health Organization recently authorized² a second dengue vaccine³. The move could provide protection for millions of people worldwide against the mosquito-borne disease.

This year, several dengue outbreaks have happened in places across the Americas.

In a statement on May 15, the U.N. health agency said it approved the dengue vaccine made by the Japanese drugmaker Takeda.

Takeda’s dengue vaccine is known as Qdenga. It was previously⁴ approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2022. The two-dose vaccine is given three months apart. It protects against the four kinds of dengue. The WHO recommends its use in children between the ages of 6 and 16 who live in areas with high rates of dengue.

Approval by the WHO now means that donors⁵ and other U.N. agencies can purchase the vaccine for poorer countries.

Studies have shown Takeda’s vaccine is about 84 percent effective in preventing people from being hospitalized and about 61 percent effective in stopping symptoms.

WHO’s Rogerio Gaspar is director for the agency’s approvals of medicines and vaccines⁶. He said it was “an important step in the expansion of global access to dengue vaccines.”

The first dengue vaccine that the WHO approved was made by the drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur. The vaccine was later found to increase the risk of severe dengue in people who had not been infected with the disease before.

There is no exact treatment for dengue. It is a leading cause of serious illness and death in about 120 Latin American and Asian countries. About 80 percent of infections are mild. But severe cases of dengue can lead to internal bleeding, organ failure, and death.

Last week, the WHO reported there were 6.7 million suspected cases of dengue in the Americas. That is an increase of 206 percent compared with the same period last year. In March of this year, officials in Rio de Janeiro declared a public health emergency over its dengue epidemic⁷. Brazilian health officials began giving out the Takeda vaccine with the goal of protecting at least 3 million people.

Infectious disease experts say climate change and the increased range of mosquitoes that carry dengue are partly to blame for the spread of the disease.

Words in This Story

authorized –adj. having or done with legal or official approval

borne –adj. transported or transmitted by —used in combination as in mosquito-borne illness

previously –adv. going before in time or order

symptom –n. a change in a living thing that indicates the presence of a disease or other physical disorder⁸

global –adj. of, relating to, or involving the entire world

access –n. permission or power to enter, approach, or make use of

mild –adj. moderate in action or effect : not severe

epidemic –n. spreading widely and affecting many individuals at one time

range –n. the distance or amount included or gone over

1 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。

2 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

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 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 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。

8 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。