HEALTH REPORT - Progress Toward a Malaria Vaccine

HEALTH REPORT - Progress Toward a Malaria¹ Vaccine²
By Karen Leggett

Broadcast: Wednesday, October 27, 2004

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

There is progress toward a vaccine to prevent malaria. Researchers have been testing an experimental vaccine in Mozambique. This is what they have found:

In a group of one thousand six hundred children, the vaccine reduced the risk of malaria attacks by thirty percent. It reduced the risk of severe cases of the disease by almost sixty percent.

Also, the vaccine appeared effective in preventing new cases of infection with the malaria parasite³ most common in Africa. In a second group of four hundred children, the vaccine reduced the risk of new infections by forty-five percent.

The findings appeared earlier this month in The Lancet.

The researchers say the experimental vaccine is safe. Doctor Pedro Alonso of the University of Barcelona, in Spain, led the study. He says the vaccine should protect children for at least six months. He noted⁴ that earlier tests found that the protection lasted only a short time in adults.

There are several hundred million cases of malaria in the world each year. Malaria damages the nervous system, kidneys and liver. By current estimates, at least one million people a year die from malaria. Most of those victims are young children in Africa. In fact, malaria kills more African children under the age of five than any other disease.

The economic costs to Africa from malaria are estimated at twelve thousand million dollars a year.

People get malaria when they are bitten by mosquitoes that carry the parasite. Researchers say the malaria parasite is more complex than organisms that cause many other diseases. That has made it more difficult to find a vaccine that is safe and effective. Cost is also an important issue.

The Ministry⁵ of Health in Mozambique, the drug company GlaxoSmithKline and the Malaria Vaccine Initiative supported the tests. The initiative began in nineteen ninety-nine with fifty million dollars from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

More testing is needed. Experts say they do not expect a malaria vaccine to be approved for use until at least two thousand ten. GlaxoSmithKline says it can take six years to build a factory where the vaccine can be made.

More than one-third of all people live in countries with malaria. By two thousand ten, experts say that share of the population will increase to half.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Karen Leggett. This is Gwen Outen.

1 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。

2 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。

3 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 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。