VOA标准英语2011--New TB Regimen Simplifies Treatment

New TB Regimen Simplifies Treatment

 

U.S. researchers have identified a new way to treat people infected with tuberculosis¹ before they get sick. The combination drug regimen, endorsed² by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), would simplify treatment, cutting it from 9 months to 3 months.

The World Health Organization says tuberculosis kills nearly two million people each year. Another two billion are at risk: they are infected, but don't have symptoms of the disease.

Those at highest risk can take medicine, but Vanderbilt University researcher Timothy Stirling says not everyone follows through with the treatment, which is a daily dose of isoniazid for nine months.

"So although the medication is highly efficacious if people take all of their medication, many people do not take all their medication and therefore the effectiveness of the regimen is decreased."

As an alternative, Sterling³ and his colleagues combined isoniazid with another drug, rifapentine. The combination was taken weekly for just three months.

A tuberculosis patient receives free treatment at the Indonesian Union Against Tuberculosis clinic in Jakarta, April 4, 2011.

"And the results of this study showed that the new regimen - the three months of isoniazid and rifapentine - was as effective as the nine-month isoniazid regimen," Sterling says. "And in fact, the short-course, three-month regimen had higher treatment completion rates and was also well tolerated."

There was one other difference. The two-drug, combination treatment was administered as "directly observed therapy." That means the patients took their medicine in the presence of a health care worker, to ensure that they followed the treatment protocol⁴.

This was a large study, involving some 7,500 participants in North America, Spain, and Brazil. Sterling cautions that most of the people in this study were HIV-negative. The results might be different for HIV-positive people.

A recent study in South Africa indicated that the combination therapy works well in people infected with HIV as well as tuberculosis, but the study was too small to be definitive⁵.

Timothy Sterling's research, in "The New England Journal of Medicine," has been endorsed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC.

The government health agency recommends the 12-dose weekly combination treatment as an equal alternative to the 270-dose daily regimen that has been the standard therapy. But because of possible safety issues, the CDC still recommends the daily regimen for HIV-positive patients who are taking antiretroviral drugs or women who are pregnant.

Also, because of a lack of data, the CDC says children under age 12 should stay with the nine-month daily treatment.

1 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。

2 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

4 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

5 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。