VOA标准英语2013--Sequestration Puts Malaria Vaccine Trial in Jeopardy

 

Sequestration Puts Malaria¹ Vaccine² Trial in Jeopardy³

No buzz is heard. But you can almost feel the vibration⁴ of 10,000 mosquitoes.

Instinctively⁵, you scratch, even though no insect is freely flying.

The females are attracted to body heat to feed on blood - and in about a minute create a macabre⁶ hand art inside this bucket.

Welcome to the mosquito insectary at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. It’s where insects are grown and vaccines⁷ are developed. 

Scientists here want to create the first malaria vaccine the world has known - to protect U.S. soldiers in malaria-prone countries. Drug companies would produce the vaccine and extend its protection to half the world’s population that lives in countries where malaria is present. 

But, officials say the mandatory⁸ budget cuts, called sequestration, will affect further testing of a potentially cutting-edge malaria vaccine, soon to be published. 

Colonel Michael Kozar directs the military’s infectious disease research.

“Without funding to actually conduct the trial, it will delay development of that vaccine," said Colonel Kozar. "It will delay us getting an answer to determining if this is a real breakthrough or just a fluke.”

Kozar says sequestration will cut about one and a half billion dollars from research and development. He says for the labs here at Walter Reed, that's about a 10 percent reduction, which could take some labs down to maintenance, not research. 

Research at Walter Reed depends on volunteers….who come into the lab regularly to get bitten on purpose.

For vaccine trials, each volunteer is given a cup filled with five malaria-infected mosquitoes. They place their forearm over the cup. The mosquitoes are given five minutes to feed.

Keenan Bailey volunteered for a recent trial. He was vaccinated⁹ but still got malaria from the bites and was treated with medication. He worries about the upcoming budget cuts.

"It's really defeating to see your contribution, the research of that being delayed," said Bailey.

The CDC says malaria causes 655,000 deaths annually¹⁰, 8 out of 10 of those victims are children. The researchers say their work might be for the military, but the benefit would be felt worldwide. 

1 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

2 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。

3 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

4 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。

5 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 macabre   

adj.骇人的，可怖的

参考例句：

• He takes a macabre interest in graveyards.他那么留意墓地，令人毛骨悚然。
• Mr Dahl was well-known for his macabre adult stories called 'Tales of the Unexpected'.达尔先生以成人恐怖小说集《意料之外的故事》闻名于世。

7 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。

8 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

9 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？

10 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。