VOA标准英语2011--New Tests to Quickly Diagnose Sleeping S

New Tests to Quickly Diagnose Sleeping Sickness

New diagnostic tools are being tested that would quickly indicate whether a person has African sleeping sickness. Current methods of diagnosis¹ are slow and cumbersome² and delay life-saving treatment.
Health officials say there are no clinical signs of sleeping sickness, also known as African trypanosomiasis. It’s often up to health workers to carefully screen those suspected of being infected. If they think a person has the illness, they’ll examine the patient’s blood under a microscope, looking for parasites⁴.
Dr. Joseph Ndung’u said it simply takes too much time.
“Sleeping sickness has been endemic on the continent of Africa for a long time in 36 countries. The highest epidemics⁵ that were occurring recently were 2008 to 2010. At that time it was estimated that at least 500,000 people in these countries were carrying the disease at any one time,” he said.
Ndung’u is head of the Human African Trypanosomiasis and Neglected Diseases Program at FIND, the Foundation for Innovative⁶ New Diagnostics. He’s the former Chief Research Officer at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute.
He said, “The seriousness of this disease is that any person who gets infected and does not receive treatment eventually dies.”
The infection can reach all the way to the brain. All this, from the bite of the tsetse fly.
New Tools
The new diagnostic tools were discussed at the International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control in Bamako, Mali. One test would be similar to a pregnancy⁷ test and could easily be used in the field. That may be ready in 2012.
The other is called Lamp, a machine that can detect the parasite³’s DNA⁸ within 24 hours. It’s manufactured by the Japanese company Eiken, which specializes in medical diagnostics.
Dr. Ndung’u said not only can the blood be tested quickly and accurately⁹, but you can see the results with the naked eye. He says if the DNA being tested has fluorescence – that is, emits light – then it’s a sure sign the person has African sleeping sickness. The fluorescence results when parasite DNA mixes with chemicals used in the Lamp device.
Now what it means is that we can take a molecular¹⁰ diagnosis, which is normally confined to sophisticated laboratories to laboratories at the district level in the rural areas, where the disease occurs. And therefore can perform these tests closer and be able to detect individuals who are carrying the disease,” he said.
He said LAMP can be also used as a follow-up to treatment to determine, if indeed, the treatment was successful. What’s more, the machine could be used to test for animal sleeping sickness said to cost African farmers over $4 billion a year. Lamp is expected to be ready for field use in 2012.
Current treatment for sleeping sickness can be toxic¹¹. But recently scientists announced a safer method. They combined two chemicals, melarsoprol and cyclodextrin. The new formulation does not need to be injected. It can be taken orally, which allows slower absorption with less toxicity¹².
Usually, melarsoprol is given alone intravenously in ever increasing doses.

1 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

2 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。

3 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

4 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

5 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

6 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

7 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

8 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

9 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

10 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

11 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

12 toxicity   

n.毒性，毒力

参考例句：

• The hoarse grunt or squeal is characteristic of toxicity.嘶哑的哼声和叫声是中毒的特征。
• Dieldrin is related to aldrin,and its toxicity to earthworms is similar.狄氏剂与艾氏剂有关，对蚯蚓的毒性是相似的。