VOA标准英语2014--抗药性疟疾在东南亚快速传播

 

Drug-Resistant¹ Malaria² Spreads in SE Asia 抗药性疟疾在东南亚快速传播

MAE SOT, THAILAND—

On Thailand’s border with Myanmar, also known as Burma, a malaria research and treatment clinic is stepping up efforts to eliminate a drug-resistant form of the parasite³ before it spreads abroad.

Artemisinin medicines have been highly effective against malaria when used in combination with other drugs. But in five countries in Southeast Asia –Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos – the malaria parasite has adapted a resistance to the treatment.  

The Wang Pha Clinic, near a busy border crossing in Thailand, has had great success over the last two decades in reducing the impact of malaria. Case loads have dropped dramatically, but doctors like Cindy Chu, the clinic supervisor⁴, remain concerned. 

“We used to see a lot of malaria at the Wang Pha clinic but now with efforts of elimination⁵ and active surveillance and even the setting up of malaria posts on the other side of the border, the malaria rates have really gone down," she said. "So we don’t see as much malaria as we used to. But on the other hand the malaria that we do see is more complicated and because of artemisinin resistance, the cases we see here require additional therapy.”

Doctors can treat infected patients with stronger drug cocktails⁶, but worry it’s just a matter of time before those medicines also become ineffective.

Dr. Francois Nosten, has been conducting research on the Thai-Myanmar border for the past 30 years and he sees the clock ticking.

“This is a global public health emergency because we could see in our studies that the progression of resistance is quite fast," Nosten said. "For example in 2007 none of the patients were infected with a resistant parasite. In 2012, 80 percent of the patients are infected with the resistant parasite so in just a few years the majority of the infections are caused by the resistant parasite.”

Nosten favors a more radical⁷ approach against resistant malaria to control its spread: administering medicine to entire villages where the parasite can lie dormant⁸ and undetectable in many people. 

“What we predict is in order to stop the progression of artemisinin resistance, we need to eliminate malaria," Nosten said. "It's not good to just reduce the number of cases, reduce the transmission of the disease, we need to eliminate the parasite.

As medical teams make plans to distribute anti-malarial drugs in remote villages that have become malaria hotspots, many are hoping that the effort will stop the spread of an increasingly dangerous parasite.

1 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

2 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

3 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

4 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

5 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

6 cocktails   

n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物

参考例句：

• Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来，我们喝鸡尾酒，吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
• Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

8 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。