VOA慢速英语2020 研究幸存者血浆以预防冠状病毒感染（在线收听）

Survivor Plasma Studied to Possibly Prevent Coronavirus Infection

Researchers are launching a study to see whether blood plasma from coronavirus survivors can block infection in others.

The study will involve people in groups at high risk of getting infected. This could include health workers, husbands or wives of sick individuals and people who live in nursing homes.

The new research will build on recent studies that looked into whether blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients could be an effective treatment for infected individuals.

Plasma is the yellowish, liquid part of blood. It contains proteins called antibodies that target infections entering the body. Blood plasma from former patients may help infected individuals defeat COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Many survivors of COVID-19 have donated their blood plasma in hopes of helping sick patients recover.

Thousands of coronavirus patients in hospitals around the world have been treated with this kind of plasma, including more than 20,000 in the United States.

So far, there is little evidence to demonstrate that blood plasma is helping coronavirus patients recover. One recent study from China had unclear results. Another from New York showed only small benefits.

Dr. Shmuel Shoham of America's Johns Hopkins University told The Associated Press that the studies do provide some "glimmers of hope." Shoham will lead the new study on whether the plasma can prevent infections entirely.

Researchers plan to use 150 volunteers for the study. Some of the test subjects will receive plasma from COVID-19 survivors that contains coronavirus-fighting antibodies. Others will receive a kind of plasma used daily in hospitals. Scientists will examine whether there are differences in who gets sick.

If the survivor plasma works, it could play a major part in reducing the number of coronavirus infections until a vaccine is approved. The researchers say the survivor plasma could be given to high-risk individuals to temporarily strengthen the immune system.

"They're a paramedic, they're a police officer, they're a poultry industry worker, they're a submarine naval officer," Shoham said. "Can we blanket protect them?"

As more people survive COVID-19, there are increasing calls for them to donate plasma to build up the nation's supply, in case the treatments prove to be effective.

Donated blood plasma is also sometimes combined with products designed to make the plasma stronger. The Spanish chemical company Grifols is expected to create a version of donor plasma that is filled with a large amount of antibodies.

Using blood plasma directly from recovered patients seems to be safe, Dr. Michael Joyner of the Mayo Clinic reported last month. His team followed the first 5,000 people to receive plasma in a program run by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The program, which helps hospitals carry out the experimental treatment, found few serious side effects in patients.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

研究幸存者血浆以预防冠状病毒感染

研究人员正在开展一项研究，以观察冠状病毒幸存者的血浆能否阻断其他人的感染。

这项研究将涉及高危感染人群。这可能包括卫生工作者、患者的丈夫或妻子以及养老院居民。

这项新研究将以最近的研究为基础，后者研究了冠状病毒康复患者的血浆能否有效治疗感染者。

血浆是血液中淡黄色的液体部分。血浆包括名为抗体的蛋白质，抗体会攻击进入体内的感染。康复患者的血浆可能有助于感染者战胜由冠状病毒引发的疾病新冠肺炎。

许多新冠肺炎幸存者捐献了他们的血浆，希望帮助其他患者康复。

全球各地医院的数千名冠状病毒患者用这种血浆进行治疗，其中包括2万多名美国患者。

截至目前，几乎没有证据证明血浆有助于冠状病毒患者康复。中国最近进行的一项研究得出了不确定的结果。另一项纽约进行的研究只显现出少许益处。

美国约翰霍普金斯大学的施穆埃尔·肖汉姆博士对美联社表示，这些研究确实提供了一些“希望的曙光”。肖汉姆将领导这项有关血浆能否完全阻止感染的新研究。

研究人员计划招募150名志愿者进行研究。一些试验对象将接受新冠肺炎幸存者的血浆，这些血浆中含有抗冠状病毒的抗体。其他人则将接受医院每日使用的血浆。科学家将研究患病者是否存在差异。

如果幸存者血浆起作用，那在疫苗获得批准之前，其可能在减少冠状病毒感染者人数方面发挥重要作用。研究人员表示，可以将幸存者血浆分给高风险人群，以暂时增强免疫系统。

肖汉姆说：“高风险人群包括医护人员、警察、家禽业工作者以及潜艇海军军官。我们能保护他们吗？”

随着越来越多的人在新冠肺炎中幸存下来，也有越来越多的人呼吁他们捐献血浆，以建立国家供应，以防这种治疗方法被证明是有效的。

捐献的血浆有时也会与旨在增强血浆的产品结合起来。西班牙化学公司基立福有望制造出一种含有大量抗体的供者血浆。

梅奥诊所的医生迈克尔·乔纳伊上个月报告称，直接使用康复患者的血浆似乎是安全的。他的团队对美国食品药品监督管理局运行的一个项目中首批接受血浆的5000人进行了追踪。

这个帮助医院开展实验性治疗的项目发现，患者很少出现严重的副作用。

布莱恩·林恩报道。