VOA慢速英语--刚果埃博拉疫苗的使用因不被信任而放缓

Ebola Vaccine¹ Use in Congo Slowed by Distrust

In the days leading up to his death, Salomon Nduhi Kambale believed someone had poisoned him. He thought that was the cause of his vomiting² blood.

The 30-year-old man would not give community health teams his phone number. Once they found out his number, he would hang up on them.

Nduhi had been infected with Ebola, a deadly and highly contagious³ disease. Within days, he was dead.

A team of health workers gave Nduhi’s wife and four young children a warning: “If you don’t accept vaccination⁴, you can prepare to die.”

Deep distrust has weakened health officials’ efforts to protect people against Ebola in the country of Congo. Political problems and violence have made things worse. Officials had tried to slow the Ebola outbreak by finding and vaccinating⁵ those who may have been in contact with infected people.

Health experts agree that the experimental Ebola vaccine has saved many people in Congo.

But after one year -- and 171,000 doses -- the problem shows few signs of slowing. Ebola has killed more than 1,700 people in Congo. It has spread to the largest city, Goma. Last week, the World Health Organization, or WHO, declared the outbreak a worldwide health emergency.

During the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, more than 11,000 people died.

Dr. Joanne Liu is president of Doctors Without Borders, a medical aid organization. She said the vaccine is not “the miracle we wanted it to be.”

“The fact that we’ve used so much vaccine, and the epidemic⁶ hasn’t stopped, that shows us that contact tracing is not great.”

In contact tracing, health workers identify and reach out to people who may have come into contact with an infected person.

WHO officials say as many as 90 percent of those able to get the vaccine accepted it. But that percentage only includes people who gave contact tracers enough information to be put on a list. The success rate does not include those who distrusted health workers and fled or could not be found.

Health workers have been giving the vaccine to people who were in close contact with a sick person. The workers then give vaccines⁷ to people who had been in contact with those people.

But with that method, some people did not get vaccinated⁸ until they had already been infected. This increased distrust of the vaccine in communities where public health officials already were seen as outsiders.

“The rumors¹⁰ were if you got vaccinated you would die,” said Liboke Kakule Muhingi. He a 43-year-old farmer in Mangina where the epidemic began last August.

His mother was among the first to die. Six of his sisters also were killed by Ebola. They had cared for their sick mother.

Kakule accepted the vaccine. He made sure his wife and children got it, too.

“If I hadn’t, we’d all be dead,” he said.

In some cases, health teams have been unable to reach areas because of violence or rebel activity.

More often, though, contact lists have failed simply because people have avoided health workers. A religious leader used a false name at health checkpoints to avoid being found, for example. He became the first Ebola case in Goma. The leader had been sickened in one town and took a bus while ill.

The WHO and the Congolese health ministry¹¹ now are offering the vaccine to anyone who wants it.

With Ebola’s arrival in Goma, some wonder whether there will be enough vaccines if the outbreak continues. Goma is a city of more than two million people.

The vaccine’s maker¹², Merck, said it has 245,000 1-millileter doses. That could rise to 900,000 over the next 18 months. The dose in Congo also has been reduced to 0.5 milliliters, which doubles the number of available vaccines.

There is a second experimental vaccine, produced by Johnson & Johnson. It requires two doses given one month apart. Health officials in Congo have said it will not be used because it needs more testing and would cause too much confusion.

It is not clear how long the Merck vaccine will protect people. Scientists know from early studies that it lasts for at least one year. The only study to report a longer-lasting vaccine used just a small number of healthy volunteers in Geneva, Switzerland, over a period of two years.

The new plan of giving the vaccine to anyone who wants it involves setting up sites in neighborhoods most affected¹³. Recently, a vaccination team went to the neighborhood in Beni where Nduhi’s wife had stayed after he died.

Baraka Kathembo Makasi is a 22-year-old motorbike taxi driver. He brought his wife and two children with him to the vaccination site.

“At first I refused,” he said, “but I started seeing people die and decided¹⁴ to go.”

I’m Jonathan Evans. And I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

hang up – v. to end a telephone conversation by cutting the connection

contagious – adj. able to be passed from one person or animal to another by touching¹⁵

outbreak – n. a sudden start or increase of fighting or disease

dose – n. the amount of a medicine, drug, or vitamin that is taken at one time

miracle – n. a very amazing or unusual event, thing, or achievement?

eligible¹⁶ – adj. able to do or receive something

rumor⁹ – n. information or a story that is passed from person to person but has not been proven to be true

confusion – n. a situation in which people are uncertain about what to do or are unable to understand something clearly

site – n. a place that is used for a particular activity

1 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。

2 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

3 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

4 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

5 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。

6 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

7 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

8 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

9 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

10 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

12 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

16 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。