HEALTH REPORT - Blood Transfusion Blamed for Second 'Mad Cow

HEALTH REPORT - Blood Transfusion¹ Blamed for Second 'Mad Cow' Infection in Humans
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, August 18, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Blood transfusions² can save lives. But they can also spread diseases. Researchers believe this is how at least two people in Britain became infected with the human version of mad cow disease. They say the cases appears to confirm that eating beef from an infected cow is not the only way the disease can spread.

The first case was reported at the end of last year; the second was reported earlier this month in the magazine The Lancet. The second patient had received a blood transfusion five years ago. The unidentified person was one of seventeen known to have received blood from people who later developed vCJD. The full name is variant³ Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

The disease attacks the brain and central nervous system. But in this patient, the infection had not spread to those areas. In fact, the report says the elderly person never developed signs of the disease. The patient died of unrelated causes. Tests later found the infection in the spleen.

Scientists say the finding suggests that a larger population of people could become infected. And here is why:

The human genetic⁴ map comes in different versions called genotypes. This patient had the most common genotype in the British population. One hundred fifty deaths from the human form of mad cow disease have been reported worldwide. But so far, there have been no such cases in people with this common genotype.

James Ironside is an investigator⁵ with the CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh. He says infections might take longer to appear in people with this genotype.

The evidence also suggests that people without signs of the disease could still carry the infection. And they may be able to pass it to others.

In cows, the official name of the disease is bovine⁶ spongiform encephalopathy. Holes form in the brain. Researchers say the disease is caused by prions, proteins that are deformed⁷ and infectious. No cure is known. But French scientists reported in The Lancet that they have identified a new way to clean prions off of medical devices.

Also, American scientists reported on a method used in Britain to try to make blood safer for transfusion. White blood cells are removed to lower the risk of the human form of mad cow disease. But the researchers say animal tests found that the risk is reduced by only about forty percent.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Gwen Outen.

1 transfusion   

n.输血，输液

参考例句：

• She soon came to her senses after a blood transfusion.输血后不久她就苏醒了。
• The doctor kept him alive by a blood transfusion.医生靠输血使他仍然活着。

2 transfusions   

n.输血( transfusion的名词复数 )；输液；倾注；渗透

参考例句：

• Still, transfusions have apparently never spread the disease, even among hemophiliacs. 还有，输血很明显从未传播过这种病，即使在血友病人之间也是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 口蹄疫疯牛病
• Blood transfusions are a special, limited example of tissue transplantation. 输血是一个特殊的、有限制的组织移植的例子。 来自辞典例句

3 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

4 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

5 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

6 bovine   

adj.牛的；n.牛

参考例句：

• He threw off his pack and went into the rush-grass andand munching,like some bovine creature.他丢开包袱，爬到灯心草丛里，像牛似的大咬大嚼起来。
• He was a gentle,rather bovine man.他是一位文雅而反应迟钝的人。

7 deformed   

adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的

参考例句：

• He was born with a deformed right leg.他出生时右腿畸形。
• His body was deformed by leprosy.他的身体因为麻风病变形了。