VOA慢速英语20060807a

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Better Control of TB Seen If a Faster Cure Is FoundBy Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, August 07, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The World Health Organization estimates that about one-third of all people are infected with bacteria that cause tuberculosis². Most times, the infection remains³ inactive. But each year about eight million people develop active cases of TB, usually in their lungs. Two million people die from it.


Tuberculosis patient in India receives treatment, March 2006

The disease has increased with the spread of AIDS and drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis.

Current treatments take at least six months. People have to take a combination of several antibiotic⁴ drugs daily. But many people stop as soon as they feel better. Doing that can lead to an infection that resists treatment.

Public health experts agree that a faster-acting cure for tuberculosis would be more effective. Now a study estimates just how effective it might be.

A professor of international health at Harvard University led the study. Joshua Salomon says a shorter treatment program would likely mean not just more patients cured. It would also mean fewer infectious patients who can pass on their infection to others.

The researchers developed a mathematical model to examine the effects of a two-month treatment plan. They tested the model with current TB conditions in Southeast Asia.

The scientists found that a two-month treatment could prevent about twenty percent of new cases. And it might prevent about twenty-five percent of TB deaths.

The model shows that these reductions would take place between two thousand twelve and two thousand thirty. That is, if a faster cure is developed and in wide use by two thousand twelve.

The World Health Organization developed the DOTS program in nineteen ninety. DOTS is Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course. Health workers watch tuberculosis patients take their daily pills to make sure they continue treatment.

Earlier this year, an international partnership⁵ of organizations announced a plan to expand the DOTS program. The ten-year plan also aims to finance research into new TB drugs. The four most common drugs used now are more than forty years old. The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development says its long-term goal is a treatment that could work in as few as ten doses.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. The new study appears in Public Library of Science Medicine. This is an online research publication that can be read for free at p-l-o-s dot o-r-g. And you can read transcripts⁶ of our reports and listen online at www.unsv.com. This is Shep O'Neal.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句