VOA标准英语2010年-AIDS: Vital First Minutes of Infection

A top U.S. health official says the first few minutes after HIV infection may be a window of opportunity to prevent the AIDS virus from firmly taking hold in the body.

The HIV that’s present during initial infection is different from the virus that replicates² over time.  And that difference is very important.  So says Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy³ and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health.

 

“The events that occur within literally⁴ minutes to hours from the time a person gets exposed actually determines what’s going to happen for that person either getting infected or the nature of the disease and the opportunities to block those early events by either pre-exposure prophylaxis, microbicides or vaccines,” he says.

One example of pre-exposure prophylaxis is the use of anti-retroviral drugs as a preventive measure.  Currently, the drugs are most often administered after HIV infection is confirmed and the immune system is weakened.  Microbicides are a gel, cream or suppository that releases a drug.

Evolution of HIV

Fauci says, “We’re getting a very good feel that the virus that transmits to an individual is different a bit from the virus that ultimately evolves after months and years of replication.”

He describes the virus initially⁶ transmitted as being “very restricted in its diversity…which interestingly, may make it even easier to block than we would have thought.  Now having said that, we haven’t been successful in blocking anything right now.  But the nature of the virus is something that is very important.”

Fauci will discuss the “brief window of opportunity and vulnerability” at this month’s 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna.

“Once the virus establishes itself and truly begins to replicate¹, it establishes what we call a reservoir that is almost impossible, with the tools that we have now, to eradicate,” he says.

Studying those early infections, Fauci says, could lead to insights for better prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and the development of a vaccine⁵.

He says test results of a new microbicide will be released at the AIDS conference.  Past microbicides have failed to block HIV, but this candidate releases antiretroviral drugs.

Dr. Fauci made his statements at a news conference Wednesday held at VOA.

 

1 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

2 replicates   

复制( replicate的第三人称单数 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• The bluetongue virus replicates in the insect. 蓝舌病病毒在这种昆虫体内繁殖。
• The chameleon's skin replicates the pattern of its surroundings. 变色龙的皮肤可随环境的模式而改变颜色。

3 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

4 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。

5 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。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。