美国国家公共电台 NPR Doctors Test Bacterial Smear After Cesarean Sections To Bolster Babies' Microbiomes

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some new parents have started giving their newborns what's being called a bacterial¹ baptism. The idea is to try to help their babies develop healthy microbiomes, the collection of friendly bacteria that inhabit everyone's bodies. NPR health correspondent Rob Stein brings us this exclusive story about the birth of one of the first babies helping² scientists test this procedure.

(SOUNDBITE OF HOSPITAL MACHINE BEEPING)

ROB STEIN, BYLINE³: It's early in the morning at the Inova Women's Hospital in Falls Church, Va. Danielle Vukadinovich is waiting to give birth to a baby girl.

DANIELLE VUKADINOVICH: Hi. Danielle. Nice to meet you.

STEIN: Nice to meet you, too.

Danielle is having a caesarean section.

How you doing?

D. VUKADINOVICH: I feel good (laughter).

STEIN: Yeah?

D. VUKADINOVICH: Yeah. Excited, nervous, (laughter), but good.

STEIN: Danielle has agreed to try something that might sound a little, well, yucky - let a doctor wipe bacteria from Danielle's birth canal all over her baby's body as soon as she's born.

D. VUKADINOVICH: (Laughter). Yes. So I will tell you I haven't told many people about this (laughter) yet. And I understand why people would be like, oh, my gosh, that's so weird⁴. But I'm OK with it. I don't think it's yucky. It's normal. It's, like, real - it's natural, really.

STEIN: Some people call it a bacterial baptism. Shira Levy⁵ is the microbiome research manager at the hospital.

SHIRA LEVY: It's a little bit like that baby's first dunk. That's their first religious experience. This is their first microbiome experience. You know, they get the water, and that changes their spirituality. In this case, they get the bacteria, and that changes their microbiome. (Laughter).

STEIN: The microbiome is the millions of friendly microbes that live in our bodies. Danielle's a nurse. She knows C-sections have skyrocketed. She also knows lots of diseases, like asthma⁶, allergies⁷, obesity⁸, have spiked¹⁰, maybe partly because babies aren't getting their mom's microbes during their birth.

D. VUKADINOVICH: When a baby is born through the vaginal canal and they get that first introduction of bacteria, it starts their immune system. The C-section's a very sterile¹¹ procedure. You know, they're not getting that first kick in their immune system. And it just made sense that it's a possibility that, you know, this spike⁹ in C-sections is linked to possible health issues with our kids.

STEIN: Danielle heard about other moms trying bacterial baptisms on their own. So she thought, I am a nurse. My husband teaches high school biology.

D. VUKADINOVICH: I even told my mom, maybe I can do this (laughter) myself. Nobody has to know. My husband would help me out. But it's - you know, again, I try not to take unnecessary risks.

STEIN: Danielle knows it could be dangerous. Babies could catch nasty infections by mistake. So she was thrilled when she found out she could be part of a study, the first study the Food and Drug Administration is allowing to test whether this is safe and helps babies.

D. VUKADINOVICH: I mean, who knows what's going to happen with the results? But if it does show something positive, I just think that would be great for kids and parents.

STEIN: Dr. Suchi Hourigan is with us. She's leading the study. Half the babies will get their mom's microbes. Half will get a placebo¹². All the moms will be carefully screened to make sure the microbes are safe.

SUCHI HOURIGAN: This could be huge. Just to be able to reduce one risk factor for obesity, especially when there are such high C-sections in the USA, would be huge.

UNIDENTIFIED NURSE #1: So can't wait to meet your little one.

STEIN: Just then nurse pops in and ushers¹³ us out so they can remove the gauze pad that's been inside Danielle collecting the friendly bacteria doctor will use to swab her baby. The doctors and nurses call it vaginal seeding.

UNIDENTIFIED NURSE #1: Yeah. Very excited. I did the first seeding.

D. VUKADINOVICH: You did?

UNIDENTIFIED NURSE #1: It's really cool.

STEIN: And now it's time for the C-section. As they wheel Danielle into the operating room, I follow along with Dr. Hourigan.

UNIDENTIFIED NURSE #1: Don't touch anything blue 'cause it's sterile.

UNIDENTIFIED NURSE #2: Are we ready to start?

STEIN: Everyone quickly takes their places, and the surgeon gets to work. Dr. Hourigan explains what's happening.

HOURIGAN: An incision¹⁴ is being made into Mom, and they are getting ready to take out the baby. They can see the head, and the head is now coming out of the C-section incision. Baby's head is out.

UNIDENTIFIED NURSE #3: Time, 8:38.

UNIDENTIFIED NURSE #4: Hello, little girl.

STEIN: It happens just that quick. The nurses rush the baby over to a table to clear her breathing.

UNIDENTIFIED NURSE #1: Oh, my goodness. You're beautiful. Rub you a little more.

STEIN: Once she's nice and pink, Dr. Varsha Deopujari gets to work with the gauze swab for the study.

HOURIGAN: Varsha is wiping the swab over baby's mouth, cheeks and face. She is going to turn the swab over to get more exposure to bacteria. And then she is now wiping the baby's hands and arms.

STEIN: She swabs down her chest, over her abdomen¹⁵ and up the other arm.

HOURIGAN: And then finally, baby's back is being wiped now. And the swabbing is now over.

STEIN: They hand the baby back to the nurse.

UNIDENTIFIED NURSE #1: She did beautifully with that.

STEIN: Dr. Hourigan and her team quickly head out of the operating room.

HOURIGAN: That went perfectly¹⁶. Baby came out and was crying. We waited till baby was stable, and the swabbing went just as planned. Beautiful baby girl.

STEIN: The next morning, I stop by to check in on Danielle, her husband, Nick, and their new daughter. Hi. How you doing?

D. VUKADINOVICH: I'm good. Feeling good today.

STEIN: What a sweetie.

D. VUKADINOVICH: Yeah. She is. She's sweet.

STEIN: Danielle and Nick are still trying to decide on a name, and they don't actually know if their new daughter got Danielle's microbes or a sterile solution, but they have their fingers crossed she was swabbed with the microbes.

D. VUKADINOVICH: I really hope that she was and that, you know, she won't have any health issues. I think if there's a decreased chance of her having health issues, that would be awesome¹⁷.

STEIN: Her husband, Nick, agrees.

NICK VUKADINOVICH: We're not terribly religious so we won't baptize with water, holy water. But we like the idea of a bacterial baptism instead of a holy baptism 'cause now she's been initiated¹⁸ with the bacteria, friendly bacteria, and that should protect her down the road.

D. VUKADINOVICH: I like that. It's nice.

STEIN: Dr. Hourigan will do this with 50 babies to make sure it's safe and then hopefully expand the study to 800 newborns who will be followed for three years to see if bacterial baptisms really do help them live better lives. And if you're wondering, Danielle and her husband, Nick, finally settled on a name, Evelyn Marie (ph).

Rob Stein, NPR News, Falls Church, Va.

1 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。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

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 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

5 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

6 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

7 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

8 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

9 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

10 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

11 sterile   

adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。
• The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。

12 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

13 ushers   

n.引座员( usher的名词复数 )；招待员；门房；助理教员v.引，领，陪同( usher的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Seats clicked, ushers bowed while he looked blandly on. 座位发出啪啦啪啦的声响，领座员朝客人们鞠躬，而他在一边温和殷勤地看着。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• The minister then offers a brief prayer of dedication, and the ushers return to their seats. 于是牧师又做了一个简短的奉献的祈祷，各招待员也各自回座位。 来自辞典例句

14 incision   

n．切口，切开

参考例句：

• The surgeon made a small incision in the patient's cornea.外科医生在病人的眼角膜上切开一个小口。
• The technique involves making a tiny incision in the skin.这项技术需要在皮肤上切一个小口。

15 abdomen   

n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)

参考例句：

• How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫？
• He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。

16 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

17 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

18 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。