SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Saying Goodbye to Polio: Not There Yet

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Saying Goodbye to Polio: Not There Yet, but Close
By Karen Leggett and Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Tuesday, December 27, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty¹.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Pat Bodnar. This week -- a progress report on the campaign to end polio.

 
A child is vaccinated³ against polio in Indonesia
VOICE ONE:

And a simpler way to save the life of a heart attack victim.

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VOICE TWO:

Two thousand five was the year that polio was supposed to be gone from the world. World health officials say the goal has almost been reached. But in some countries the fight must go on.

VOICE ONE:

The worldwide campaign to end polio began in nineteen eighty-eight. At that time, the disease existed in more than one hundred twenty-five countries. Each year it affected⁴ more than three hundred fifty-thousand children.

Since then, two thousand million children in two hundred countries have been immunized to protect against polio.

Polio is caused by a virus that affects mostly children under five years old. Victims commonly get sick from water that contains human waste infected with the virus.

 
 
The disease attacks nerve cells. Some people lose the ability to walk. Some lose the ability to breathe without assistance. About one victim in two hundred suffers permanent paralysis⁵. And some victims die.

VOICE TWO:

More than one-third of all current cases are in Nigeria. The situation there is often described as the biggest threat to the effort to end polio.

In two thousand three, some states in northern Nigeria suspended polio immunization programs. Muslim clergymen disputed the safety of the vaccine⁶.

Vaccinations⁷ restarted after a year. Now health experts say Nigeria is working hard again to immunize every child. They say Nigeria should be able to stop the spread of polio in one more year.

While the campaigns were suspended, polio spread to ten countries in west and central Africa that had been free of the disease. But public health experts had good news in November. They said the ten countries had not reported any new cases of polio since June of this year.

The countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Chad. The others are Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Togo.

VOICE ONE:

Health officials report that Sudan has also stopped the spread of polio. Sudan held seven national immunization days in two thousand five. Medical experts say it is important to vaccinate² every child in a country. The World Health Organization will declare Sudan free of polio if it has no new cases for three years.

Polio from Nigeria also spread to Yemen and Indonesia. Health officials say it is now being controlled in Yemen, but continues to spread in areas of Indonesia.

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VOICE TWO:

You are listening to SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English from Washington.

Campaigns to stop the spread of polio include giving children vaccine four times by mouth in the first year of life.

Health workers hope to make more progress with a new kind of vaccine. It is called a monovalent oral polio vaccine.

Until now, vaccines⁸ have combined three medicines to fight three different polio viruses. But only one exists in most countries. So health officials have started to use the single strongest medicine that will prevent that type of polio.

VOICE ONE:

The new kind of vaccine is being used in both India and Pakistan. Health officials in those countries report great progress in their efforts to stop the spread of polio. The number of cases in each country this year is about half the number last year.

In Pakistan, health workers involved in the effort to end polio also became some of the first to help victims of the October earthquake. These workers provided emergency services. They also immunized children against other diseases besides polio.

VOICE TWO:

Less than ten years ago, India had seventy-five thousand cases of polio in one year. Last year, health officials reported just one hundred thirty-six cases.

More than a million teams have been going door-to-door all over India to vaccinate children. Immunization days are being held every six weeks in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. These states have the most polio cases in the country. They also have the highest birth rates.

Health workers mark houses with the letter P if all the children who live there have been vaccinated against polio. If any children are not home, or if the parents are worried about the vaccine, the house is marked with an X. Teams keep returning until the house can be marked with a P.

Doctors say even children who are not feeling well should receive the vaccine. But they need to take it again when they are well in case the medicine washes out of their body.

VOICE ONE:

The fight to end polio has cost four thousand million dollars so far. Now, it also includes immunizing children against five other diseases. These are diphtheria, measles⁹, pertussis, tetanus and tuberculosis¹⁰.

Money has come from the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Money also has come from the United Nations Children's Fund and many individual nations. And it has come from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Rotary¹¹ International has also provided a lot of support.

VOICE TWO:

The Rotary Club started in Chicago, Illinois, in nineteen-oh-five. Members are often business people who want to meet each other and help their own communities and others. Today Rotary International has more than one million members in one hundred sixty-six countries.

 
Ann Lee Hussey of Rotary immunizes a child in Cairo in December 2004
In nineteen eighty-five, the group decided¹² to help immunize all of the world's children against polio.

Ezra Teshome is a Rotary member who lives in Seattle, in the northwestern state of Washington. For the past nine years, Mister Teshome has taken a team to his native Ethiopia to help immunize millions of children. In November, Time magazine honored Ezra Teshome as one of ten global health heroes.

VOICE ONE:

Other Rotary members have taken vaccine to children living on boats in Cambodia. In Angola, volunteers found planes and other vehicles to take vaccine to areas with landmines¹³ still hidden in the ground after years of war.

And, in India, one hundred thousand Rotarians and family members helped immunize one hundred sixty-five million children in one day. Rotary members now look forward to a day when they can celebrate the end of polio.

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VOICE TWO:

When the heart is in cardiac arrest, it stops pumping blood. Breathing stops. Without lifesaving measures, the brain starts to die within four to six minutes.

 
 
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation¹⁴ can save the life of a heart attack victim. CPR combines rescue breaths and repeated pressure on the chest. It keeps blood and oxygen flowing to the heart and brain.

The American Heart Association has new guidelines for the public about how to do CPR. It says the steps are simpler than before and easy to follow. They appeared in its journal Circulation.

VOICE ONE:

The biggest change is in the number of chest compressions. The earlier guidelines called for fifteen chest compressions for every two breaths. Now it is thirty compressions for every two breaths -- for adults as well as children. The steps are repeated over and over until medical help arrives.

To do compressions, a person places one hand on top of the other and presses down into the chest. The idea is to push hard and push fast, at a rate of one hundred compressions per minute. With a newborn baby, two fingers should be used.

Studies found that continuous compressions increase blood flow. This would give the victim more time until a defibrillator can be found or the heart can begin to pump again.

A defibrillator is a device that sends an electric shock to the heart in an effort to return a normal heartbeat. Heart experts say CPR is important not only before defibrillation but also immediately after.

Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in the United States and Canada. Victims who are not in a hospital usually die because most of the public does not know what to do. The American Heart Association says immediate¹⁵ CPR can sharply increase the chances of survival.

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VOICE TWO:

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Karen Leggett and Cynthia Kirk who was also our producer. I'm Pat Bodnar.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Internet users can read and listen to our programs at www.tingroom.com. Listen next week for more news about science, in Special English on the Voice of America.

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 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。

3 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？

4 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。

5 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

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 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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。

9 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

10 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

11 rotary   

adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的

参考例句：

• The central unit is a rotary drum.核心设备是一个旋转的滚筒。
• A rotary table helps to optimize the beam incidence angle.一张旋转的桌子有助于将光线影响之方式角最佳化。

12 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。

13 landmines   

潜在的冲突； 地雷，投伞水雷( landmine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The treaty bans the use production and trade of landmines. 该条约规定，禁止使用地雷相关产品及贸易。
• One of the weapon's of special concern was landmines. 在引起人们特别关注的武器中就有地雷。

14 resuscitation   

n.复活

参考例句：

• Despite attempts at resuscitation,Mr Lynch died a week later in hospital.虽经全力抢救，但林奇先生一周以后还是在医院去世了。
• We gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage.我们对他进行了口对口复苏救治和心脏按摩。

15 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。