2019年经济学人埃博拉:希望(1)（打印版）

News about Ebola, a viral disease that kills up to 90% of those it infects, is usually grim.

埃博拉是一种感染者死亡率高达90%的病毒性疾病，关于它的新闻通常都很严峻。

The latest Ebola outbreak, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has thus far killed nearly 1,900 people and rages on.

刚果民主共和国内最近爆发的埃博拉疫情，迄今已造成近1900人死亡，疫情仍在肆虐。

But on August 12th the grimness lifted somewhat with the announcement

但在8月12日，这种严峻的形势有所缓解，

that two anti-Ebola treatments being tested in the country have proved effective.

有消息宣布该国正在测试的两种抗埃博拉治疗方法已证明有效。

If administered when the first signs of infection appear, they boost survival rates to about 90%.

如果在出现感染症状之初使用，可将存活率提高至约90%。

The treatments in question employ antibodies. These are special protein molecules made by the immune system in response to infection.

上述治疗方法使用了抗体。抗体是免疫系统对感染做出反应时产生的特殊蛋白质分子。

They work by locking onto specific parts of invading pathogens,

它们的工作原理是锁定入侵病原体

or of body cells infected by those pathogens—either gumming the target up and disabling it

或被这些病原体感染的体细胞的特定部位—它们要么会把目标搞砸并使其失效

or marking it for destruction by other parts of the immune system.

要么是将其标记为免疫系统其他部分造成的破坏。

It is possible, however, to give the immune system a helping hand by identifying suitable antibodies in advance,

但也有可能给予免疫系统帮助：前提确认合适的抗体，

manufacturing them in bulk, and then injecting them into those infected by the pathogenic target.

批量生产，然后将它们注射到被致病性目标感染人群的体内。

One of the successful treatments, codenamed REGN-EB3,

其中一个成功的治疗方法，代号为REGN-EB3，

is a cocktail of three such antibodies, mixed by Regeneron, an American biotechnology firm.

它是由三种抗体混合而成的混合物，由美国生物技术公司Regeneron制造而成。

The other, mAb114, is a single antibody developed by America's National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

另一个是mAb114，一种由美国国家过敏和传染病研究所研发的单一抗体。

REGN-EB3 and mAb114 were among four experimental treatments tested in a randomised trial at clinics in Congo.

REGN-EB3和mAb114是刚果四种随机实验治疗方法中的两种。

Based on preliminary results from 500 patients, an oversight committee led by the World Health Organisation

根据500名患者的初步结果，由世界卫生组织领导的一个监督委员会

concluded that the trial should be stopped immediately, in order that the two successful treatments could be made available to everyone.

得出结论称应立即停止试验，以便让每个人都能使用到这两种成功的治疗方法。