美国国家公共电台 NPR--Encore: It took multiple trips to the ER for him to be treated for monkeypox

Encore: It took multiple trips to the ER for him to be treated for monkeypox

Transcript¹

Monkeypox has been declared a global health emergency. But as doctors learn how to identify symptoms, a diagnosis² can take days. (Story first aired on All Things Considered on July 23, 2022.)

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Monkeypox is now a global health emergency. According to the CDC, the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. stands at nearly 3,600, and mainly among men who have sex with men. Jackie Fortier of member station KPCC in Los Angeles reports.

JACKIE FORTIER, BYLINE³: Two days after Kevin Kwong flew home to California from New York Pride, his hands were so itchy, it woke him up. He initially⁴ thought it was eczema.

KEVIN KWONG: Everything started rapidly getting worse. I started to get more spots on my face, more redness and started leaking fluid. The rash expanded to my elbows and my hands, my ankles.

FORTIER: An urgent care doctor didn't think it was monkeypox. Kwong's spots were clustered together and looked different from the monkeypox pictures the doctor had seen.

KWONG: Depending on where I was with my symptoms and who I was speaking to, I was getting different answers.

FORTIER: During a virtual appointment, a nurse noticed the rash spreading toward his eyes and told him to go to the emergency room. There, doctors told him he may have monkeypox. But they were unprepared to handle a potential case.

KWONG: And so they were researching while I was in this room and back and forth⁵ on the phone with the CDC. I expected myself, as a patient, to be in the dark. But I didn't realize how little information was also given to providers and how unprepared they were as well.

FORTIER: His lesions were swabbed. But the monkeypox test result wouldn't come back for at least a week. He spent 12 hours in the ER before being sent home.

KWONG: I'm just miserable⁶. I have sores in the back of my throat, in my mouth, all over my body.

FORTIER: He says the pain was inescapable.

KWONG: It feels like you stick your hand in water that's too hot, but you cannot take it out.

FORTIER: After a FaceTime call with a friend, he broke down crying after seeing himself on the screen.

KWONG: Your body is being taken over by this thing that you don't understand. It's both painful and terrifying.

FORTIER: After days of appointments and very little sleep, Kwong decided⁷ to drive to the University of California San Francisco Hospital. There, he was given oxycodone for the pain and swabbed again for a monkeypox test. The next day, UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong contacted him.

PETER CHIN-HONG: I thought, wow; this is really, really extensive disease. I've seen other cases of monkeypox before, but they were very limited. Kevin is probably in the top 5% of severity of diseases. And most people probably wouldn't get as severe as Kevin's.

FORTIER: Because the rash was close to Kevin Kwong's eyes, if left untreated, it could have caused him to go blind. Dr. Chin-Hong says the case was so severe, the hospital okayed a prescription⁸ of TPOXX. That's an antiviral that's been given special clearance⁹ by the FDA to treat monkeypox under certain circumstances.

CHIN-HONG: I was shocked by how fast Kevin improved. So it was almost like he was in a turbo rocket on the way to recovery.

FORTIER: Kwong thinks he likely contracted monkeypox from a guy he hooked up with during New York Pride. That man did test positive. Despite Kwong's quick turnaround on the antiviral, he still hasn't tested positive. Dr. Chin-Hong says health workers may not have rubbed hard enough to get live cells.

CHIN-HONG: It's very difficult, as a clinician, to, like, really get a good sample in these kinds of lesions because the patient is often in pain, and you don't like to see people suffer.

FORTIER: Kwong now takes six antiviral pills a day and no longer needs pain medication.

KWONG: My face was the first to heal, which I think helped me a lot just mindset-wise, to be able to recognize who I was in the mirror again.

FORTIER: Throughout his ordeal¹⁰, Kwong has been posting on social media to encourage people to get tested and get the vaccine¹¹ if they're eligible¹².

For NPR News, I'm Jackie Fortier in Los Angeles.

(SOUNDBITE OF FEVERKIN'S "SILHOUETTE")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 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。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 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。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

9 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

10 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

11 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。

12 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。