万花筒2008-02-25:Deadly flu strain

The flu epidemic¹ intensified² a few week ago, but it continued to worsen with widespread outbreaks being reported in every state except Florida. NBC's Robert Bazell reports.

And there's new information tonight about this year's flu epidemic and why it has suddenly gone from bad to worse as all too many people know firsthand. The story from our chief science correspondent, Robert Bazell.  

The epidemic intensified only a few weeks ago, but it keeps getting worse. Today's report shows wide spread outbreaks in every state except Florida. The percentage of deaths from respiratory illness, an indication of flu activity, has been climbing sharply, and so is the number of visits to doctors and hospitals for people with flu-like illness. So the CDC has no trouble saying there is a bad epidemic right now.  

We really don't know when the season will peak, and when it will be over with. 

Kara Conway, 11-years-old, and Amanda Ell is 12, are 2 of 22 children known to have died from the flu this season. The CDC carefully tracks pediatric deaths, and added 10 more this week alone. The tragic³ childhood cases are relatively⁴ rare. The influenza⁵ kills tens of thousands of mostly older people every year. 5 died this week in this Salt Lake City Nursing Home. The big danger now is a strain called Brisbane 10, it popped up in the US earlier this month. It makes people very sick and this year's flu shot which must be made up a year in advance does not protect against it.

The Brisbane 10 strain really wasn't on our radar⁶ screen when we made the vaccine⁷ strain selection decision last year in February.  

Just yesterday, officials decided⁸ to include it in next year's vaccine, and they can only hope that yet another entirely⁹ new strain will not appear in the meantime.  

No one knows why new strains suddenly appear as this one did, but the population of the world is so big, and with the huge amount of international travel, certainly any new strain that appears anywhere can immediately become a threat everywhere else, William.  

Such a lottery¹⁰ out there, Robert Bazell, Thanks for that.

1 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。

2 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。