VOA慢速英语2014 埃博拉病毒疫苗在猴试获得成功

 

AS IT IS 2014-09-09 Ebola Vaccine¹ Successful in Monkeys, Humans Next 埃博拉病毒疫苗在猴试获得成功

Researchers have developed an experimental vaccine that protects monkeys against the Ebola virus. They are now testing this vaccine on human volunteers in the United States. Plans call for additional testing on volunteers in Britain and West Africa.

A report on the experimental vaccine was published on Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine. More than 20 researchers were involved in the Ebola study.

Researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health reported that the vaccine was given to four monkeys. The treatment protected all four animals against Ebola when they were exposed to the virus five weeks later. Reports say other monkeys left unprotected died within six days.

The researchers said they gave a second, or “booster,” vaccine to another group of monkeys two months after the first injection. This vaccine was similar to the first. It extended protection for all vaccinated² monkeys for up to 10 months. They did not become sick.

Eight monkeys were given the first injection but not the second. When these animals were exposed to Ebola 10 months later, half of them died.

The vaccine tested by the NIH is similar to one being developed by drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline. It prepares the body’s natural defenses against disease to fight the virus when an infection takes place.

The human testing began last week at the NIH near Washington, DC. The tests involve about 20 healthy volunteers. Researchers want to know not just if the vaccine is safe, but if it can cause the human body to react strongly enough to prevent Ebola infection. The volunteers will get only the first injection, not the booster shot. But, in later tests, volunteers will receive both vaccines³.

The World Health Organization says it will know by November if the vaccine is safe for people. If so, it would be sent quickly to West Africa, going first to healthcare workers.

The NIH says as many as four vaccines are being developed. Ten drugs are being tested as possible cures for people already infected with Ebola.

President Barack Obama says the U.S. military would help in the fight against Ebola. The disease has killed more than 2,000 people in West Africa. The affected⁴ countries include Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.

Mr. Obama spoke⁵ Sunday on the NBC television program Meet the Press. He said military equipment will be used to build “isolation centers” -- places where people infected with the virus can be separated from others. He said the U.S. military could also provide security for international health workers. 

Mr.  Obama warned that it will be months before the virus is stopped. But he said if efforts are not made to stop Ebola, it could spread across Africa and around the world. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the head of the National Institute of Allergy⁶ and Infectious⁷ Diseases at NIH. He told Bloomberg News that widespread use of a vaccine is still, in his words, “a pretty long way off.” And he warned that “the epidemic⁸ is not going to be contained by what we are doing now.”

In Sierra Leone, officials have told people to stay at home for three days later this month as part of an effort to stop the spread of Ebola. A government official said last Saturday that people will not be permitted to leave their homes from late September 18 until September 21.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders has criticized the quarantine order. It said it may cause people to try to hide their infections.

Experts have repeatedly said that quarantines and border closures do not help control Ebola. Instead, they say people suspected of being infected should be immediately treated.

The NIH says it knows how to stop the spread of Ebola: find people infected with the virus, keep them away from others, give them medical care and treat others they may have infected. It says people must be taught how to safely bury those who die from the disease. And it says healthcare workers must be trained how to control infections in hospitals. It says following these methods “is how all previous Ebola outbreaks have been stopped.”

Dr. Fauci said that if we want to stop the spread of the virus, we must, in his words, “make sure people do what works.”

1 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。

2 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？

3 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。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

7 infectious   

adj.传染的，有传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
• What an infectious laugh she has!她的笑声多么具有感染力啊！

8 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。