VOA标准英语2010年-More Women Decline Cervical Cancer Vac

If you could take a vaccine¹ that would protect you against cancer, wouldn't you take it? Well, for cervical cancer, there is a vaccine. It protects against a virus called HPV, which can lead to cancer of the cervix. But a new study reports that many women say no to the vaccine.
Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women, according to the World Health Organization.
It's responsible for more than a quarter-million deaths each year - 85 percent of them in developing countries. Scientists have found that cervical cancer is caused by a sexually-transmitted microbe called HPV, the human papillomavirus, said University of Maryland researcher Kathleen Tracy.
"The human papillomavirus is actually a family of viruses that cause everything from common skin warts² to genital warts, and then certain strains of it actually can lead to cervical cancer." Until a few years ago, the best defense³ was a pap smear⁴ to detect and treat precancerous cells. But giving susceptible⁵ women the annual test can be difficult to manage, especially in resource-poor areas. A vaccine against HPV, which was introduced a few years ago, would seem a much better solution, but only if women get vaccinated⁶.
To see if that was happening, Tracy and her colleagues reviewed medical records of about 10,000 females, ages 9 to 26, at the University of Maryland's medical center in Baltimore who were eligible⁷ to get HPV vaccination⁸. They found that only about 27 percent got vaccinated. The hospital records don't say why three-quarters of the young women chose not to get the vaccine, but Tracy has some educated guesses, based on the short time the vaccine has been on the market.
"It's only been licensed⁹ for use in the U.S. since 2006. So I think there's probably a significant number of people who are sitting back and waiting to see how effective is it, what are the major side effects, is it going to come down in price - it's not an inexpensive vaccine," she explained in a telephone interview from the annual research conference of the American Association for Cancer Research, where she presented her study.
Less than one-third of the 27 percent who got the vaccine, got the full series of three doses. Tracy says choosing to get or not get the vaccine is a matter of choice. But "when I see that people are choosing to get it but aren't following through with the dose, it worries me," she said. "That means there are large numbers of women that are unprotected or underprotected, and that's the group that we need to reach."Technology might provide an answer, and Tracy and her colleagues are preparing a new study to see if a week's worth of daily text (SMS) messages might be a more effective way to get women who start the HPV vaccine to get all three shots.

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 warts   

n.疣( wart的名词复数 )；肉赘；树瘤；缺点

参考例句：

• You agreed to marry me, warts and all! 是你同意和我结婚的，我又没掩饰缺陷。 来自辞典例句
• Talk about trying to cure warts with spunk-water such a blame fool way as that! 用那样糊涂蛋的方法还谈什么仙水治疣子！ 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 smear   

v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• He has been spreading false stories in an attempt to smear us.他一直在散布谎言企图诽谤我们。
• There's a smear on your shirt.你衬衫上有个污点。

5 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

6 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？

7 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

8 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。

9 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？