VOA标准英语2009年-Researchers: AIDS Vaccine Cuts Infection f

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
24 September 2009

 
US Ambassador to Thailand Eric John (L) with Thailand Minister of Public Health Witthaya Kaewparrdai after press conference in Bangkok, 24 Sep 2009
In a major scientific breakthrough researchers in Thailand say they have made progress in developing a vaccine¹ for AIDS. A six-year trial working with volunteers showed that a combination of drugs reduced the risk of HIV infection.
 
More than 16,000 Thai men and women took part in the clinical trial of a vaccine to prevent HIV infection and lower the amount of the virus in the blood stream.
 
The trial, the largest the world has seen for an AIDS vaccine, showed a combination of existing drugs reduced the risk of HIV infection by more than 30 percent. It is the first vaccine to reduce infections.
 
Dr. Supachai Rerks-Ngarm of Thailand's Ministry² of Public Health says the results are a scientifically credible³ breakthrough.
 
He says among the volunteers, 74 who received placebos⁴ became infected with HIV compared with 51 taking the vaccine.
 
Researchers from the U.S. Army, which sponsored the trial, says a combination of two drugs lowered the rate of HIV infection, an outcome scientists call a significant step forward in the search for a vaccine.
 
The U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, Eric John, said it raises hopes that drug combinations could be effective as a vaccine in the future.
 
"It affirms the concept that a vaccine is possible," he said. "The fact that there was a degree of efficacy for the study proves that there could be a combination of medicines out there that would provide an effective vaccine. So I think proving the possibility of a potential vaccine is the important step forward."
 
Other partners in the project include the Thai Ministry of Public Health, the group Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases and pharmaceutical⁵ company Sanofi Pasteur.
 
 
Alain Bouckenooghe
Alain Bouckenooghe, who heads Sanofi Pasteur's Asia-Pacific operations, says the trial follows past failures in other tests around the world.
 
"There is no doubt that the world of vaccinology needed positive news," he said. "Over the last few years there have been several setbacks. This is the first phase three trial that shows that an efficacious vaccine and a safe vaccine can be designed. It will require more work but this is definitely good encouragement."
 
He added that the vaccine does not help those already infected with the HIV virus. But Thai scientists say further studies will be done on the longer-term effects on HIV patients.
 
Since AIDS and HIV were identified in the 1980s, scientists around the world have sought a vaccine to prevent infection. Certain anti-retroviral drugs can prolong life for HIV carriers by years, but they are costly⁶.  Millions of patients in Africa and other parts of the developing world can not get the drugs.

More than five million people live with HIV in Asia, with some 380,000 people becoming infected each year. A similar number perish from AIDS. Infection rates are highest in Southeast Asia, although they appear to be declining in Cambodia, Burma and Thailand.
 
But infections in Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam have been growing rapidly in recent years. In Vietnam, the United Nations says the rate of infections doubled between 2000 and 2005.

1 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。

2 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。

3 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

4 placebos   

n.（给无实际治疗需要者的）安慰剂( placebo的名词复数 )；安慰物；宽心话；（试验药物用的）无效对照剂

参考例句：

• But, eventually, I think they were just kind of like placebos. 但是后来，我想它们只是安慰剂（安慰剂：没有任何药效的药） 来自电影对白
• But comparable numbers of those who received placebos also improved. 但是吃安慰剂的人的病情也改善了。 来自互联网

5 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。