VOA双语新闻：18、控制疟疾战果显著 但抗药问题日益严重（在线收听）

控制疟疾战果显著 但抗药问题日益严重

Malaria（疟疾） is a disease that kills more than 600,000 people every year.  It debilitates even more.  Each year on World Malaria Day, we take stock of the disease, what’s been done to contain it, and what still needs to be done.

全世界每年有60多万人死于疟疾，更多的人因此体质恶化。如今，医学工作者已经在控制疟疾方面取得了巨大的成绩，但他们有可能面临一个让局势急转直下的危险因素。

Children are the most likely victims of malaria. They live in Latin America and Asia, but mostly in sub-Saharan Africa where the most deadly strain of the disease is found.

这些是最有可能被疟疾夺去生命的人。他们有些生活在拉美和亚洲，不过，更多是在撒哈拉以南的非洲。

Dr. Anthony Fauci heads the infectious diseases division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

美国国立卫生院(NIH)传染病研究院主任安东尼·弗契博士说，

"About every 60 seconds a baby dies from malaria; usually a baby living in sub-Saharan Africa," said Fauci.

“大约每60秒就有一名婴儿死于疟疾，通常是撒哈拉以南非洲地区的婴儿。”

Survivors may suffer permanent brain damage, epilepsy, blindness or hearing loss.

即使大难不死，疟疾患者也有可能留下永久性的脑损伤、癫痫、失明或者听力损失。

Mosquitoes don't cause malaria. But a certain type - the anopheles mosquito - can transmit a parasite that does.  And someone with malaria then can pass the parasite on to uninfected mosquitoes and the cycle continues.

蚊子本身并不产生疟疾，但是某一种类的蚊子，也就是按蚊，可以传播产生疟疾的一种寄生虫。而某位得了疟疾的病人又可以把寄生虫传给本来不带病原的蚊子，然后恶性循环下去。

Dr. Peter Agre at The Johns Hopkins University says malaria is a disease of the poor.

约翰·霍普金斯大学的彼得·阿格雷博士说，疟疾是穷人的疾病。

"They're sick because they're poor and they're poor because they're sick," said Agre.

他说： “人们得了病，是因为他们穷，而他们之所以穷，是因为得了病。”

Dr. Agre heads The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute.  He says developed countries rid themselves of malaria by draining swamps, using screens on porches, and constructing buildings in higher elevations where mosquitoes that carry the parasite don't live.  People in poor countries can't do that.

阿格雷博士是霍普金斯疟疾研究所的所长。他说，发达国家已经摆脱了疟疾，办法包括疏通清理沼泽等等，而贫穷国家没有这种能力。

A new push to contain malaria is under way. Funds for bed nets, insecticide spray, testing and medicine to treat malaria have cut the death rate from malaria by as much as 50 percent.  Dr. Agre says much more needs to be done.

但是，新的控制疟疾的努力正在进行之中。用在蚊帐、杀虫剂和治疗疟疾的检验与药物的资金帮助把疟疾致死率减少了50%。但是，还有很多努力要做。

“At The Johns Hopkins Malaria Institute, scientists work on many aspects of the malaria problem. The mosquitoes are one part of that, and one of our most successful areas of research," he said.

阿格雷博士说： “在约翰·霍普金斯疟疾研究所，我们有大约20名科研人员，他们正在研究疟疾问题的多个方面，其中包括蚊子，我敢说，这可能是我们最成功的研究领域。”

Researchers are trying to change the mosquito so it can't transmit malaria.  Dr. Fauci says other research involves developing new medicines and a vaccine.

研究人员正试图改变蚊子，让他们无法传播疟疾。其它研究包括开发新药和疫苗。

"We have been frustrated over many years of not having a highly effective vaccine against malaria," he said.

国立卫生院的弗契博士说： “我们多年来一直感到困扰的是，没有对付疟疾的高效力疫苗。”

Along the Thai-Cambodian border, drugs used to treat malaria take longer to work.  That's generally the first sign the parasite has developed drug resistance.  If it spreads, researchers predict millions of people will die.

不过，在泰国和柬埔寨边界一带，用来治疗疟疾的药物现在需要更长的时间才能发挥效力。这通常是寄生虫产生了抗药性的第一个迹象。研究人员预测，如果抗药性扩展开来，会有数百万人死于病魔。

"The real critical thing that we’re hoping for is with a combination of treatment, combination of prevention like bed nets and others, and a combination of a good vaccine, that some day, we can’t predict when, we may be able to eliminate malaria and essentially eradicate it," said Fauci.

弗契博士说： “真正关键的是，我们希望能有综合治疗，把蚊帐和其它的预防手段结合进来，而且希望某一天能把好的疫苗也结合进来。我们无法预测，但到那个时候，我们也许能够根除或基本根除疟疾。”

This would help the world's poorest children, their families and entire countries.

如果这一天到来的话，受益的将是全球最贫穷的孩子、他们的家人和他们所在的整个国家。