VOA慢速英语--冠状病毒幸存者:“我的血液可能是别人的希望”

Tiffany Pinckney remembers the fear she felt when the coronavirus she suffered from made it very difficult to breathe. So, when she recovered, the New York City woman became one of the country's first survivors¹ to donate her blood. That blood may now help other seriously ill patients.

Pinckney told the Associated Press it was "overwhelming to know that in my blood, there may be answers."

Doctors around the world are reusing a treatment for infections that is about 100 years old: giving blood plasma² from recovered patients to sick ones. Plasma is the yellowish liquid part of blood.

The blood from former patients is filled with immune molecules³ that can help survivors defeat COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Such donations have already been made by recovered patients in Houston and New York. Now, hospitals and blood centers in other areas are preparing for possibly hundreds of survivors to donate.

Doctors do not know if the treatments will be successful.

This is a "call to action," said Dr. David Reich. He is president of New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, which collected Tiffany Pinckney's blood.

"People feel very helpless in the face of this disease. And this is one thing that people can do to help their fellow human beings," he added.

The treatment was used during the 1918 flu pandemic. It was also used to fight several other infections before modern medicine found new anti-viral drugs.

During an infection, the body starts making antibodies designed to attack the germ that has invaded the body. These antibodies stay for months or years in the blood plasma of survivors.

This treatment can be used while scientists search for a vaccine⁴ or a new drug.

It is a temporary measure that can be put into place quickly, said Dr. Jeffrey Henderson. He is from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is putting together a study about the treatment.

This "is not a cure...but rather it is a way to reduce the severity of illness," Henderson said. Doctors don't know how long survivors' antibodies will stay in their plasma.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration told hospitals how to request emergency permission to use the treatment. Houston Methodist Hospital and Mount Sinai both asked immediately.

The public also answered requests from hospitals for donations.

Michigan State University had more than 1,000 people sign up for the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project. The group was formed by hospitals hoping to increase plasma donation for research.

Survivors who want to donate blood cannot just walk into a blood center. They must prove the virus is gone, and that they have been free of symptoms for several weeks. They also must have a high level of antibodies in their blood.

Chinese doctors reported last week that five people treated with plasma from former patients all began to improve a week later. But they also received other treatments, so there is no way to know if the plasma caused the improvements.

In a North Carolina factory, Spanish chemical company Grifols is trying to recreate a version of donor⁵ plasma that is filled with a large amount of antibodies.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health are measuring survivors' antibody levels to learn how strong a vaccine must be. Other scientists, including some at Beijing's Tsinghua University, are trying to find out which antibodies are the strongest. They hope to copy those antibodies in a lab and create a drug treatment.

But donations from people like Pinckney could be used as fast as medical centers can process the blood. When Mount Sinai asked her to donate, she agreed immediately.

It's "hope for someone else," she said.

Words in This Story

overwhelm– v. to effect someone very strongly

immune – adj. not capable of being affected⁶ by a disease

plasma – n. the watery⁷ part of blood

pandemic– n. a worldwide spread of disease

antibody– n. a substance produced in blood to fight disease

germ – n. a small living thing that causes disease

convalescent - adj. the process of becoming well after an illness

symptom– n. a physical feeling or problem that shows that someone has a particular illness

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

3 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

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 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

6 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。

7 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。