VOA标准英语2015--研究:被误认为疟疾的疾病

Study: Diseases Mistaken for Malaria¹ 研究:被误认为疟疾的疾病

A new study warns that, in Africa, illnesses causing fevers are often misdiagnosed as malaria. For example, the study found that dengue fever is circulating in urban areas of Ghana, but is mistaken for malaria. The findings could trigger a reevaluation of anti-malaria efforts.

Dengue fever is caused by a virus transmitted through a mosquito bite. It’s a flu-like illness that a fatality² rate of about five percent. The World Health Organization said there’s no specific treatment, but early detection and proper medical care can sharply reduce the risk of death. While the death toll³ may be low, dengue has hindered development in parts of the world.

The study’s lead investigator⁴, Justin Stoler, has studied dengue fever and malaria for many years in Latin America. But while doing research in Ghana he wondered whether dengue and other febrile diseases ever had been considered a big problem?

“I had always noticed that the urban ecology – the types of breeding environments that certain mosquitoes like – all existed in West Africa. And yet these diseases were generally off physicians’ radar⁵. And many years ago I sat in a symposium⁶ with [the] Ghana Medical Society and they were talking about the high malaria rates. And I asked, I said, ‘Have you looked at other viral fevers, other types of diseases that are circulating everywhere else in the tropics?’ And I was roundly shook off. And I thought to myself, well, someone needs to look into this stuff.”

Stoler is assistant professor of geography at the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences. He said the study is the first to show that dengue and other fever-causing diseases are circulating in Ghana. In fact, he said, “Many diseases with classic fever and headache symptoms that are circulating are being misdiagnosed on a massive scale.”

“The best data we have is from Accra, Ghana’s capital. And we see there roughly 40 to 45 percent of all outpatient visits – anyone presenting at a hospital, a healthcare facility – for any reason – are walking out of there with a presumptive malaria diagnosis⁷, which is a staggering number in and of itself. Now, what we’re just starting to learn in the last few years is that when you actually do confirmatory blood tests -- and you look at who really has malaria -- typically it’s less than 10 percent of that group, who’s presumed to have malaria,” he said.

So, if those figures are correct, what diseases could the rest actually have?

“Well, we started with dengue because it’s widespread across the tropics. It’s recognized. It’s something many people have heard of. But in reality it’s probably just a small piece of the pie. There are bacterial⁸ infections, other viral fevers, viral infections – things like influenza⁹ – fungal diseases, other parasitic¹⁰ infections…really a whole menu of things that people are dealing¹¹ with on a regular basis,” said Stoler.

Many of the diseases are water related and infections can increase during the rainy season or floods. It’s not just malaria mosquitoes that breed in these conditions.

He said, “When you see spikes¹² in people rushing to the hospitals and the clinics after the rainy season, again, this is part of the reason why we have this institutionalized view that after the rainy season you seek spikes in fevers. Therefore, it is all malaria. But it’s actually all these other diseases that have very similar links in ecologies.”

Stoler said the findings have the potential to cause donors¹³ to re-think their anti-malaria strategies. The Roll Back Malaria Global Action Plan estimates nearly $6 billion a year is spent to fight malaria.

“At least in parts of rapidly urbanizing Africa, maybe malaria is not their biggest problem. I don’t mean to undermine the importance of fighting malaria in sub-Saharan Africa and around the world, in general. But malaria has traditionally been a rural disease and that’s probably still where most of the burden exists. But really all the action is in urban places and there a lot of other things that people are dealing with there,” he said.

Since dengue is spread by mosquitoes, would anti-malarial bed nets help to reduce infections?

“Well, that’s what’s interesting,” said Stoler, “There’s some evidence that in certain parts of sub-Saharan Africa that the Aedes mosquitoes that spread dengue fever – also are mosquitoes responsible for spreading Chikungunya and Yellow Fever, by the way. These mosquitoes tend to be active at dawn and dusk. And so, using mosquito nets you may get a little bit of protection in the early morning hours. But the reality is that these mosquitoes do bite throughout the day and that traditional interventions¹⁴, like bed nets, are not going to be effective in getting the vast reductions in morbidity¹⁵ and mortality that we see with malaria control.”

Stoler said the findings should be presented to various medical societies for consideration. He also says health care workers should be trained to look for other, lesser¹⁶ known infections.

The University of Miami assitant professor says the findings can also play a role in the writing of the Sustainable Development Goals. They’ll replace the Millennium¹⁷ Development Goals at the end of this year.

The study appears in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene¹⁸.

1 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。

2 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

5 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

6 symposium   

n.讨论会，专题报告会；专题论文集

参考例句：

• What have you learned from the symposium?你参加了这次科学讨论会有什么体会？
• The specialists and scholars present at the symposium come from all corners of the country.出席研讨会的专家学者们来自全国各地。

7 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

8 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

9 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。

10 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

11 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。

12 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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》

14 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

15 morbidity   

n.病态；不健全；发病；发病率

参考例句：

• MC's also significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality induced by honeybee venom. 肥大细胞同样也能显著降低蜜蜂毒液诱发疾病的发病率和死亡率。 来自互联网
• The result shows that incidence of myopia morbidity is 44.84%. 结果表明：近视眼的发病率为44.84%。 来自互联网

16 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

17 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

18 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。