HEALTH REPORT - A Look Behind the Disease: Meningitis

HEALTH REPORT - A Look Behind the Disease: Meningitis
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, May 04, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Meningitis is an infection of the fluid that surrounds the brain and the spinal¹ cord. Most cases are caused by a virus or bacteria.

 
Bacterial² meningitis
Medical experts say people with viral meningitis generally get better within about ten days. Bacterial meningitis is rare and more serious. It may cause brain damage, hearing loss or, in some cases, death.

Tests on a small amount of fluid taken from the spinal cord can show if the infection is viral or bacterial. Bacterial meningitis can be treated with antibiotic³ drugs. Experts say it is important to begin treatment as early as possible.

Common signs of meningitis include high body temperature, headache and neck pain. Also, people may be sleepy and not able to think clearly. Newborn babies with meningitis may not eat; they may have little energy or cry continually. Meningitis can also cause vomiting⁴ and seizures⁵ in both children and adults.

Meningitis can spread when a person coughs or sneezes. And it can spread through kissing. Crowded living conditions may also increase the spread of meningitis. Signs of the disease usually appear within two to ten days of infection.

Around the world, different kinds of bacteria cause different forms of meningitis. The highest infection rates are in southern Africa in countries including Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia and Niger. These countries are part of what is known as the "African meningitis belt," from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east.

The last major outbreak of meningitis in Africa was in nineteen ninety-six and ninety-seven. The World Health Organization had reports of more than two hundred fifty thousand cases. More than twenty thousand people died.

Reports last month said a meningitis outbreak in Ethiopia had killed at least forty people and infected more than four hundred. Health officials organized a campaign to vaccinate⁶ people against the disease.

Vaccines⁸ can protect against some of the most common bacteria that cause meningitis. In two thousand three, researchers developed a vaccine⁷ against a new strain. This form of meningitis killed at least one thousand five hundred people in Burkina Faso in two thousand two.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk.  I'm Gwen Outen.

1 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

2 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

3 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

4 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。”

5 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

6 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

7 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。

8 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。