美国国家公共电台 NPR Mail From China Won't Spread Coronavirus, Virus Specialists A

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

As of this morning, there are 11 confirmed cases of coronavirus infections in the United States. The most recent are in California, including the second instance of person-to-person transmission in this country. The Department of Homeland Security is expanding precautionary measures at U.S. airports. Flights carrying people who have been in China in the last two weeks are being diverted to one of 11 airports where they will be screened carefully.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A mandatory¹ quarantine for travelers returning from the hardest hit areas of China also went into effect Sunday night. So far, there have been no deaths here, but in China, more than 17,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 360 people have died from the coronavirus.

GREENE: With a story that's moving so quickly, we've been getting a lot of questions from you about the virus, and our co-host Noel King spoke² with NPR's Health correspondent Allison Aubrey to try and get you some answers.

NOEL KING, BYLINE³: OK. So here's the first question that we got from a listener that may have a little frustration⁴ in it.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: Sure.

KING: This person writes, on the one hand, we hear reports that the flu has killed more people, and then on the other hand, we hear the U.S. needs to prepare for the spread of this new coronavirus. They sometimes seem like conflicting reports about how much we should worry - and I'll add, what we should worry about.

AUBREY: Well, right now, without a doubt, I'd say the most immediate⁵ health threat to almost everyone listening right now is the flu. I mean, every year, millions of people get the flu. It leads to thousands of deaths a year - somewhere between 12,000 and 60,000 deaths on average just here in the U.S.

So by contrast, in the U.S. so far, there have been no deaths from the new coronavirus. It has not spread widely in the U.S. That could change. But it's important to note that both the flu and the new coronavirus are respiratory illnesses, which tend to spread in similar ways. So when an infected person sneezes or coughs on another person or surface, the virus spreads.

KING: So how do you stop it from spreading?

AUBREY: Well, one very effective thing you can do - it sounds so obvious - wash your hands.

KING: (Laughter) Yeah.

AUBREY: Right? Infectious disease expert William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University told us you just cannot underestimate this step.

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER: The hand-washing for sure - constantly, frequently, all the time.

AUBREY: And that's because touching⁶ your hand to a contaminated surface then touching your eyes, your nose, your mouth, it's a very common route of transmission. It's how the virus infects you. Other ways to prevent the spread - you know, cover your cough, sneeze into an elbow, things we teach our kids, if only we adults could remember to do them.

KING: Let me go back to the flu for a second...

AUBREY: Sure.

KING: ...Because the flu death statistics are really surprising.

AUBREY: Yes.

KING: The Center for Disease Control estimates that at least 8,000 people have died from the flu this flu season in the United States alone...

AUBREY: That's right. Mmm hmm.

KING: ...Which led to another listener question - how deadly is the new coronavirus?

AUBREY: At this time, the virus appears to be much less lethal⁷ than other coronaviruses that have led to outbreaks. Back in the early 2000s, there was the SARS outbreak, which had about a 10% mortality rate. More recent years, there was the MERS, the Middle East respiratory syndrome⁸, outbreak. The death rate there was a little over 30%. Now, so far, the estimate mortality rate for this novel coronavirus is between 2% and 4%.

KING: That's a much lower death rate.

AUBREY: That's right. And several infectious disease experts I've spoken to say the death rate may be even lower, given that officials have not identified everybody who has been infected. I mean, early on in an epidemic⁹ like this, you test the people who are really sick. So of course, you're missing all those people who may have mild cases or people who have the virus but aren't symptomatic.

KING: Some of our listeners had questions about prevention beyond just wash your hands and try not to cough on people.

AUBREY: Right.

KING: One listener wrote in and said, I recently received a package in the mail that I ordered from China. Could I catch the virus from it?

AUBREY: Well, in this era, when we order so much online, our listener is not the only person asking this question. It came up during a CDC press conference. And Nancy Messonnier, the CDC point person on coronavirus had this response.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NANCY MESSONNIER: In general, because of the poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces that's sort of in the range of hours, there is likely a very, very, very low - if any - risk of spread from products or packaging that is shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures.

AUBREY: So you hear her there saying, never say never, but practically speaking, the virus is likely only able to survive several hours. So there is no evidence that the package from China that you've just got in the mail could infect you with the coronavirus.

KING: Another thing a lot of people asked about is masks. We've been hearing on air...

AUBREY: Sure.

KING: ...There's a shortage of masks in China. People want to know - should I go out and buy a mask in the event that the virus spreads here?

AUBREY: Sure. Generally speaking, masks are not terribly effective. We spoke to infectious disease expert William Schaffner about them.

KING: The evidence is really rather scanty¹⁰ that the general population will benefit by the use of masks.

AUBREY: Hey says, basically, they just can't completely stop germs from spreading.

KING: People who wear surgical¹¹ masks, even those who put them on appropriately, still breathe a substantial amount around the edges of the mask; hence, you could still transmit this virus.

AUBREY: And that's why he emphasizes the importance of good hygiene¹² habits, like hand-washing, as we just discussed.

KING: All right, so there's a question here about vaccines¹⁴. We know there's no coronavirus vaccine¹³ yet.

AUBREY: That's right.

KING: But one listener asked if the pneumonia¹⁵ vaccine could help protect against the coronavirus.

AUBREY: Yes. Indirectly¹⁶, the pneumonia vaccine could possibly be beneficial. So let me explain this - people who get respiratory infections are extra vulnerable to secondary bacterial¹⁷ infections. So the immune system is so busy or distracted fighting off the virus it can't defend as well against bacteria. In fact, for a little historical perspective, it was actually bacterial pneumonia that caused most of the deaths during the 1918 flu pandemic.

So the pneumonia vaccine is recommended for people 65 and older, for smokers¹⁸ and for people with certain medical conditions. And by fending¹⁹ off the pneumococcal bacteria, the vaccine can help prevent these sometimes deadly infections that accompany respiratory illnesses.

KING: NPR Health correspondent Allison Aubrey. Thanks so much, Allison.

AUBREY: Thanks for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF LYMBYC SYSTYM'S "KUBRICK")

1 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

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 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

7 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

8 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

9 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

10 scanty   

adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的

参考例句：

• There is scanty evidence to support their accusations.他们的指控证据不足。
• The rainfall was rather scanty this month.这个月的雨量不足。

11 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。

15 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

16 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

17 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。

18 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

19 fending   

v.独立生活，照料自己( fend的现在分词 )；挡开，避开

参考例句：

• He is always spending his time fending with the neighbors. 他总是与邻里们吵架。 来自互联网
• Fifth, it is to build safeguarding system and enhance the competence in fending off the risk. 五是建立政策保障体系，提高防范和抵御风险的能力。 来自互联网