西班牙出现埃博拉疫情

　　Europe's first victim

　　欧洲境内首例患者

　　A Spanish nurse who caught Ebola causes consternation across Europe

　　一西班牙护士感染埃博拉病毒，引起全欧洲恐慌

　　Taking precautions, after the event

　　事后预防

　　FEAR spreads faster than disease. News on October 6th of a case of Ebola in Madrid, the first contracted outside west Africa, where the disease has killed 3,400 people since March, caused Spaniards to worry not only about its spread but also about the competence of their health authorities.

　　恐惧的传播速度要比病毒快得多。10月6日马德里出现了第一位在西非之外感染埃博拉病毒的患者，埃博拉病毒自3月以来已致3400人死亡，消息一出，不仅引起西班牙人对疫情传播的担忧，还导致民众对卫生当局工作能力的怀疑。

　　The victim is a 44-year-old hospital worker, Teresa Romero, who had volunteered to help when two Spanish missionaries were flown home from west Africa and later died of the disease. Health workers in Africa are among Ebola's most frequent victims. But in the developed world hospitals have elaborate protocols to minimise the danger of contagion. Ms Romero should have been wearing the right protective clothing, have known the safety protocols properly, and been quickly spotted as a danger to public health once she fell ill.

　　患者特蕾莎·罗梅罗是一名44岁的护理人员，曾经志愿参与护理感染埃博拉病毒两名西班牙传教士，这两例患者均在西非感染埃博拉病毒然后被空运回国（接受治疗），但是随后因（医治无效）而去世。最容易感染埃博拉病毒的患者就是在非洲工作的医务工作人员。但是在发达国家，医院是能够通过制定详细的条款将传染病的传播危险最大程度地降低的。罗梅罗本应该穿上正确的防护衣，本应该适当了解安全协议，本应在感到不适的第一时间被列为隔离对象（然而事与愿违）。

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　　Yet after Ms Romero caught the virus, she spent ten days on holiday in Madrid, sat a public exam and visited a health centre and hospital with her early symptoms to seek help. Ms Romero wore protective clothing at work and claimed that she had followed the protocols. She even rang the hospital where she had worked to ask for advice on dealing with her symptoms, but her temperature was not deemed high enough to cause concern. Eventually she was taken by ambulance to her local hospital rather than to one that specialises in Ebola cases, requiring a further move some hours later. Full isolation protocols were reportedly only applied some time after her arrival at the first hospital.

　　在罗梅罗感染病毒之后，她还在马德里休了十天假，期间参加了一次公开考试，并在出现早期症状后在健康中心和医院寻求过帮助。罗梅罗声称自己在工作期间穿上了防护衣并遵守了安全协议。她甚至曾向她工作的医院打电话咨询解决症状的建议，但是因为体温不够高而没有引起注意。最终她被救护车拉去了当地一家医院而不是专门负责埃博拉疫情的医院，只因后者路程遥远还需几个小时才能到。据报道称，在她到达第一家医院一段时间之后隔离条款才真正落到了实处。

　　Ebola is not easy to contract. It usually requires contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. Doctors say that Ms Romero recalled touching her face with a gloved hand after changing a nappy for one patient. They think the risks of further contagion are small, though six people, including her husband, were in isolation as The Economist went to press. Some 50 health workers who had been in contact with her are being closely monitored. The couple's dog was also put down.

　　埃博拉并不容易被感染。只有与感染者进行体液的接触后才能传染上。医生称罗梅罗回忆起在给一位患者换尿布后她曾经用带着手套的手触摸过自己的脸。虽然他们认为二次传染的危险性是很小的，但是包括她的丈夫在内的六名相关人员在《经济学人》出版时都已经被隔离。曾与罗梅罗接触过的50几名医务人员也被严密监控。这对夫妇的宠物狗同样被监控起来。

　　Hospital staff complain that they had only between 15 minutes and half an hour of training on protocols and how to put on protective clothing before dealing with Ebola patients. In some cases duct tape was used to seal clothing. The authorities admit that Ms Romero should perhaps have been isolated earlier.

　　医院工作人员抱怨称，就隔离条款内容和如何穿戴防护衣的学习他们只接受过15分钟到半个小时的培训。有些情况下人们会用强力胶带来给衣物封口。当局承认罗梅罗本应该尽早隔离。

　　Medical staff point to cuts in Madrid's health service, where spending has fallen by 2% over the past three years. The authorities deny that training was slack and accuse Ms Romero of failing to give doctors full information. Jaume Ribera at IESE, a business school, says Spain should have fewer but better-prepared people treating victims of Ebola.

　　医务人员指出马德里在公共医疗卫生服务方面的支出有所削减，过去的三年中，相关支出减少了2%。当局否认培训的缺失并控告罗梅罗未能向医生传达出全部的信息。IESE商学院的豪梅·里韦拉认为西班牙应该减少护理埃博拉患者的人员但是要提高人员质量。