HEALTH REPORT - More Distance on the Road to Ending Polio

HEALTH REPORT - More Distance on the Road to Ending Polio
By Karen Leggett

Broadcast: Wednesday, May 11, 2005

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

 
An aid worker vaccinating¹ a child in India.
In most of the world, the campaign to stop polio by the end of this year has already succeeded. Fewer than one thousand three hundred new cases of the disease were reported last year. But problems continue.

Last week, Indonesia reported its first new cases of polio since nineteen ninety-five. And Yemen has its first cases since nineteen ninety-six. Medical investigators² believe that the virus in both countries came from Nigeria.

In two thousand three, many parents in northern Nigeria decided³ not to have their children vaccinated⁵ against polio. Muslim religious leaders had told them that the Western-made vaccine⁶ was harmful.

Vaccination⁷ campaigns have started again in Nigeria. But, as people traveled, the virus spread to countries that were polio-free.

Polio attacks the nervous system. It can affect the muscles in the legs, arms and lungs. The virus is spread by human waste. Some victims die.

The Global Polio Eradication⁸ Initiative⁹ began in nineteen eighty-eight. At that time, the virus was found in one hundred twenty-five countries. By two thousand three, there were only six: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Niger, Afghanistan and Egypt.

Now, experts say the spread of polio is re-established in six other countries, all in Africa. And cases have been found in several more.

The Indonesian government plans to vaccinate⁴ more than five million children under age five. Health workers have already been going house-to-house in West Java, where the polio cases were discovered.

The World Health Organization says genetic¹⁰ tests linked the virus to West Africa. It says the virus is similar to viruses recently found in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

World health officials say that, nationally, more than ninety percent of Indonesian babies are vaccinated against polio. But they also note that some areas of the country have much lower levels of protection.

In Yemen, sixty-nine percent of children are vaccinated. More than twenty cases of polio have been found.

The virus spreads most quickly in Africa during the rainy season that starts in July. Health workers are trying to vaccinate as many children as possible by then.

Some experts still believe it is possible to stop polio in two thousand five. But the job has gotten more difficult.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Karen Leggett.  I'm Gwen Outen.

1 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。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 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。

5 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？

6 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。

7 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。

8 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

9 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

10 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。