VOA慢速英语2014 研究人员说现在正测试新的埃博拉病毒药物

 

AS IT IS 2014-08-15 Researcher Says Test New Ebola Drugs Now 研究人员说现在正测试新的埃博拉病毒药物

A man who discovered the Ebola virus says now is the time to test drugs that could help people infected with the dangerous disease. More than 1,000 people have died from Ebola infection in West Africa since February.

Guido van der Groen is the former head of the virology unit at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium. He and other researchers discovered the virus in 1976 in Zaire. The country is now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Dr. van der Groen says fewer people lived in West Africa then, and they did not travel as much.

“When we started to find the virus for the first time, the areas in which we found this virus was the northern part of Zaire, which was really a rural area and which was not densely¹ populated and in these days, the mobility² of the people was very, very, very low compared to now.”

Now, he says, conditions in West Africa are better to test new medicines on large numbers of people. While the growth of Africa’s population has helped the virus spread, it may also help researchers develop treatments and a cure.

“On a daily basis, you still have a decent number of new infections.  So, that means that there are a number of patients that you can follow. If you have a chance to start to treat some of them, you will learn in a very, very short period if some of these promising³ products are indeed are beneficial.”

Human trials

One of those new medicines is a vaccine⁴ that includes the Ebola virus currently spreading in West Africa. The drug is based on the vaccine for rabies.

Matthais Schnell is developing the drug. He is the director of the vaccine center at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.  

Mr. Schnell says researchers are planning to test the new drug in humans in two or three years. But, he says, if they had enough money researchers could test it earlier.

Another new drug -- called ZMapp -- is being used to treat several people who were infected with Ebola in West Africa.

Thomas Geisbert is a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He says giving a large number of people experimental Ebola treatments is a complicated issue. Mr. Geisbert says regulators must decide how many people to give test drugs to.

Mr. Geisbert also says drug companies are not moving quickly to develop drugs to treat people infected with Ebola. The market for such drugs is small. He says many more people suffer from other conditions, including malaria⁵, influenza⁶ and cancer.

About 2,000 people have been infected with Ebola in four West African countries this year. The number of cases continues to grow every day.

1 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

2 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

3 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

4 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。

5 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

6 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。