VOA常速英语2014--加速研发治疗埃博拉病毒药物应对疫情

 

Work on Ebola Treatments Speeds Up to Address Outbreak 加速研发治疗埃博拉病毒药物应对疫情

The World Health Organization has approved the use of experimental drugs for people who have Ebola, a virus that already has claimed more than 1,000 lives in western Africa.

The experimental Ebola serum¹ that was used on American and Spanish missionaries² is produced in a small firm in California. The manufacturer says it has run out of the serum, but is trying to increase production as quickly as possible.

用于美国和西班牙传教士的埃博拉病毒实验血清是由加州一家小公司所制造。制造商表示虽然血清已经用完,但正尽最大努力提高产量。

Other groups are also working on treatments and vaccines⁴.

而其他团体也在加快治疗方案及疫苗的研究进程。

Researchers at Newlink Genetics in Iowa say they have a vaccine³ that was 100 percent effective when given to monkeys. The company received a federal grant to step up its work and to speed up human testing.

爱荷华州Newlink遗传学研究人员表示他们有一种疫苗在给猴子注射后发挥出100%的功效。而这家公司现在接受联邦拨款加快进程并且加速进行人体试验。

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The U.S. National Institutes of Health has approved a grant to the University of Texas Medical Branch to develop effective treatments for Ebola. Lead researcher Professor Thomas Geisbert speak to voa via skype.

美国国家卫生研究院已经批准了一比拨款用于德克萨斯大学医学部门开发治疗埃博拉的有效药物。首席研究员教授托马斯·贾思博特通过skype对VOA说道。

"That grant really is to focus on what we believe are three of the most promising⁵ post-exposure treatments against Ebola."

“这次拨款将焦点集中在我们认为最有前途的对埃博拉病毒接触后的三种治疗方案。”

All have proven effective in testing on monkeys. Professor Geisbert says the next step is human trials.

在猴子身上进行的所有测试已被证明有效。贾思博特教授表示接下来将用于人体试验。

“One of the goals for this project is to actually try to combine these different treatments, for example with HIV there's been a lot of success in combining different anti-viral drugs that operate by different mechanisms⁶ of action, and we believe that this is something that may work for Ebola as well."

“这个项目的目标之一是真正将这些不同的治疗方法结合起来,例如应对艾滋病毒就是通过不同的机制运作很多不同种类抗病毒药物成功的结合,因此我们相信对于埃博拉同样也是适用。”

Since 1976, there have been more than 15 Ebola outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa, but no licensed⁷ treatments are available. Dr.Peter Hotez is an expert on tropical diseases. He founded the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.

自1976年以来,在撒哈拉以南非洲已经有超过例15埃博拉病毒爆发,但是没有授权的治疗对策。热带疾病专家彼得·霍特兹博士在德克萨斯州贝勒医学院创立了国家热带医学学院。

"The problem is that it's a neglected tropical disease, where there's no real commercial market for it, the major multi-national firms have not invested in these products."

“问题是这是一种被忽视的热带疾病,没有真正的商业市场,而且大型跨国公司没有投资于这些产品。”

As a result, researchers have to depend on grants from government and private sources and progress goes a lot slower. Too slow and too late for more than 1,000 people.

因此,必须依靠来自政府和私人资助的研究人员进度自然就会慢很多。这对于埃博拉造成死亡的超过1000人而已未免太慢,太迟。

1 serum   

n.浆液，血清，乳浆

参考例句：

• The serum is available to the general public.一般公众均可获得血清。
• Untreated serum contains a set of 11 proteins called complement.未经处理的血清含有一组蛋白质，共11种，称为补体。

2 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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 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。

5 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

6 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？