VOA标准英语2009年-US Schools to Reopen Amid Flu Concerns

U.S. health officials are warning about a possible resurgence¹ of the Swine Flu virus in North America as the cold weather approaches, and schools prepare to reopen. Health experts say the illness poses a special risk to schools, which are set to re-open at the start of the flu season.
　
H1N1 vaccine²

For many young students, the start of a new school year often means a trip to the doctor for a physical and a new round of vaccinations³. Schools require almost all students be up to date with their shots, such as for polio, diphtheria, and measles⁴, before they can return to class.

To help defray the costs, the Florida city of Hialeah offered free vaccines⁵ at a health clinic this week, which drew more than a dozen families early one morning.

Six-year-old Vashti Ragin was getting shots for the first time in Miami, after her family moved to the area from Georgia. Her mother, Darlene, said Vashti was worried about the needle pricks⁶, but it was needed to keep her healthy.

"After talking to her pediatrician when we decided⁷ to move here, she highly recommended she get at least three or four shots: the MMR [mumps, measles, rubella], polio, DPT [diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus], and I think they do hepatitis here," she said.

One shot that is not available yet is the vaccine for the newly discovered H1N1 Swine Flu virus. Medical teams are working to produce a supply and hope to begin offering the vaccine by October.

Still, Darlene Ragin says she will not get flu shots for her family, even though her daughter may be exposed to it at school. "If she is sick definitely I won't send her to school. Some parents unfortunately they send their kids to school because they can't afford to let them stay home or they can't miss work," she said.

Nearby, Ivete Lopez also was waiting for free vaccines for her son, Camilo, who is entering the seventh grade. She said she does not know anyone who contracted swine flu, but she says getting a vaccine is a good safeguard.

Lopez said of course her family is concerned about swine flu and that hopefully when the vaccine is released, her son will have a chance to be inoculated⁸.

The World Health Organization says nearly 180,000 cases of swine flu have been reported this year, and it has killed more than 1,400 people - most of them in the Americas.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control say H1N1 could come back strong this year and trigger a severe flu season. It is recommending vaccines for several groups of people, including school children, and asking schools to take added precautions.

At Miami-Dade public schools, health director Wilma Steiner says the focus is on urging students to keep their hands clean and helping⁹ officials to quickly identify students who are sick. "What the CDC is asking us to do is to make sure that anybody that is ill is isolated¹⁰, they are sent home and asked to stay home for 24 hours after whatever fever they have is gone," she said.

After the discovery of H1N1 earlier this year, school officials shut down several schools for days after students or teachers were found with the illness. Steiner says now that will happen only in rare cases, since health experts have a broader understanding of the flu and how to stop it.

While officials worry that public attention to swine flu is waning¹¹ in the United States now, the fear is real in South America, which is in the middle of flu season during its winter months. Argentina, Chile and Brazil have been hit hardest, resulting in a total of more than 500 deaths.

The spread of the virus in South America resonates in Miami, which is considered a gateway¹² to Latin America and is home to many immigrants. Health experts say Miami residents who took summer trips back home, where the virus is more active, may now be in a position to bring it back to their communities in the United States.

Jarbas Barbosa is manager of health surveillance for the Pan-American Health Organization, which has been tracking H1N1 in Latin America.

He says the United States played a key role in exporting the illness earlier this year, and it is ironic¹³ that the virus may come back to the country now.

Barbosa says the lessons of proper hand washing and covering a cough should be applied¹⁴ in the United States as much as they are in Latin America.

 

1 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

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 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

5 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。

6 pricks   

刺痛( prick的名词复数 )； 刺孔； 刺痕； 植物的刺

参考例句：

• My skin pricks sometimes. 我的皮肤有时感到刺痛。
• You must obey the rule. It is useless for you to kick against the pricks. 你必须遵守规定，对抗对你是无益的。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 inoculated   

v.给…做预防注射( inoculate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A pedigree pup should have been inoculated against serious diseases before it's sold. 纯种狗应该在出售前注射预防严重疾病的针。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Disease can be spread by dirty tools, insects, inoculated soil. 疾病也能由不干净的工具，昆虫，接种的土壤传播。 来自辞典例句

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

11 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

13 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

14 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。