VOA慢速英语2017 新轮状病毒疫苗有望挽救成千上万儿童的性命（在线收听）

Researchers in the African country of Niger have introduced a new vaccine that protects against the diarrheal disease called rotavirus.

非洲国家尼日尔的研究人员推出了一种新型疫苗，可以预防轮状病毒腹泻。

A scientific test has shown that the new vaccine is effective, safe and easy to use. Experts believe it will be more widely used than the two rotavirus vaccines now given to children.

科学测试表明这种新型疫苗有效、安全、易用。专家认为它将会比目前对儿童接种的两种轮状病毒疫苗使用更为广泛。

A killer without a good vaccine

缺乏合适疫苗的杀手

The new vaccine is important because rotavirus is a serious illness that can lead to death. Rotavirus causes a severe infection of the gastro-intestinal tract. It kills more than 215,000 children each year -- about 600 a day.

这种新型疫苗非常重要，因为轮状病毒是一种会导致死亡的严重疾病。轮状病毒会引起胃肠道严重感染。这种病毒每年导致超过21.5万名儿童死亡，大约相当于每天600人。

Two vaccines against rotavirus are already available. However, they are costly and difficult to use.

目前已经有两种针对轮状病毒的疫苗。然而，这两种疫苗价格昂贵并且难以使用。

They must also be kept cold. In many African countries where people suffer from rotavirus, refrigeration and electricity are unreliable.

它们还必须保持低温。在很多感染轮状病毒的非洲国家，制冷和电力并不可靠。

As a result, the existing rotavirus vaccines are not widely used.

因此，现有的轮状病毒疫苗没有得到广泛使用。

A new option

新的选择

Researchers have been working on a new vaccine for rotavirus called BRV-PV. They recently tested the vaccine with young children in Niger.

研究人员一直在研究一种名为BRV-PV的新型轮状病毒疫苗。他们最近对尼日尔的幼儿测试了这种疫苗。

Researchers gave 1,780 babies the BRV-PV vaccine. Only 31 cases of rotavirus developed in those babies.

研究人员为1780名儿童接种了BRV-PV疫苗。在这些幼儿中只有31人感染了轮状病毒。

In contrast, 87 cases of rotavirus developed among the babies who received a treatment but did not get the real medicine. In other words, those babies were given a placebo.

相比之下，在接受诊治但没有接种真正疫苗的幼儿之中，有87人感染了轮状病毒。换句话说，这些幼儿被使用了安慰剂。

The researchers say the clinical trial shows that BRV-PV was nearly 67 percent effective.

研究人员表示，这次临床试验表明BRV-PV疫苗的有效率接近67%。

The study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

这项研究发表在《新英格兰医学杂志》上。

Three good results

三个好的结果

Dr. Emmanuel Baron is the director of Epicentre, a research group that is part of Doctors Without Borders, an aid group. Epicentre researchers conducted the clinical trial.

伊曼纽尔·巴龙博士（Dr. Emmanuel Baron）是传染病研究中心(Epicentre)的负责人，这是医生无国界援助组织下的研究机构。传染病研究中心的研究人员进行了这项临床试验。

“We saw actually three things. The first is that this vaccine is efficient. The second is that this vaccine is safe. And we also saw a good acceptability by both the care providers and the families.”

巴龙博士说，“我们实际上发现了三点。第一，这种疫苗有效。第二，这种疫苗安全。最后我们还发现护理人员和各个家庭对这种疫苗的接受程度很高。”

The new vaccine does not need refrigeration for up to six months. Medical workers mix it with liquid and give it to babies three times: when they are 6 weeks old, 10 weeks old, and 14 weeks old.

这种新型疫苗可以长达六个月无需冷藏。医务人员将其与液体混合后，给幼儿接种三次，时间分别在6周龄、10周龄和14周龄。

Baron is happy the new vaccine is effective. But he wishes the success – or efficacy – rate was even higher.

巴龙博士对疫苗有效感到非常高兴。但是他希望疫苗的有效率能更高。

“We would love to have 95, 98, 100 percent efficacy. But we know that all vaccines do not work very well in African countries for reasons that are still unclear, probably due to immunological disorders. But we also know that this efficacy of about 70 percent is higher than any other vaccine in similar settings.”

他说，“我们希望有效率可以达到95%、98%、100%。但是我们知道，所有疫苗在非洲国家的有效率都不尽如人意，原因尚不得而知。可能是因为免疫紊乱。但是我们也知道，70%的有效率比其它任何类似疫苗都要高。”

The vaccine is expected to cost $6 for the three doses. The price will likely drop as more people are given the vaccine.

预计这种疫苗的价格为6美元/3支。随着越来越多人接种这种疫苗，它的价格可能会下降。

Baron says medical workers in countries where rotavirus is a serious health threat are waiting for the World Health Organization to approve the vaccine. Then, medical workers can start giving the new vaccine to children.

巴龙博士表示，轮状病毒是严重健康威胁的那些国家的医务人员正在等待世卫组织批准这种疫苗。然后医务人员就可以开始给孩子们接种这种新疫苗。

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

diarrheal – adj. related to an illness that causes you to pass waste from your body very frequently and in liquid rather than solid form

infection – n. the act or process of infecting someone or something : the state of being infected

gastro-intestinal tract – n. an organ system in humans and animals that takes in food, digests it and expels the remaining waste

refrigeration – n. the act of keeping something cold to keep it fresh

placebo – n. a pill or substance that is given to a patient like a drug but that has no physical effect on the patient

clinical trial – n. a scientifically controlled study of the safety and effectiveness of a drug or vaccine using consenting humans for subjects

effective – adj. producing a result that is wanted

conduct – v. to plan and do something

efficient – adj. capable of producing desired results without wasting materials, time, or energy

liquid – n. a substance that is able to flow freely

Immunological disorder – n. a disorder or problem with the immune system