VOA标准英语2014--Ebola Increases Threat to Sierra Leone Pregnancies

 

Ebola Increases Threat to Sierra Leone Pregnancies¹

KAILAHUN, SIERRA LEONE— 

Sierra Leone has one of the world’s highest infant mortality rates, and the Ebola outbreak is likely to push it even higher. Health officials say almost all pregnant women infected with Ebola, along with their unborn babies, die from the disease.

It’s a grim baseline. Last year, 107 out of every 1,000 infants born alive in the West African nation had died before their first birthday – compared with 65 in Guinea and 54 in Liberia, the two other countries most devastated² by Ebola, or 6 in the United States. Those figures were compiled by the World Bank before the current outbreak began in March. Fetal mortality rates were not readily available.

Kailahun district in eastern Sierra Leone has the country's first and largest Ebola treatment center.

There, Doctors Without Borders has brought in midwife Ruth Kauffman to tend to three pregnant women who have the deadly virus.

Kauffman says there have been no reported cases of pregnant mothers and unborn babies surviving Ebola in Sierra Leone. Authorities do not know how many have died already.

"Especially in outbreaks, there are some groups of people who are more vulnerable than others," Kauffman says. "And what we see with Ebola is that if women [who] are pregnant contract Ebola, they have almost a 100 percent mortality rate."

The aid group's treatment center has set up a specialized³ ward⁴ for these pregnant mothers, says Axelle Vandoornick, the center’s field coordinator⁵.

She said the midwife has "been on standby since yesterday, because, of course, a delivery is a very high-risk situation to carry out."

Kumbu Sakila survived Ebola, but her 24-week-old fetus⁶ did not. She has been at the treatment center three weeks, waiting to deliver the dead child she is still carrying.

Midwife Kauffman says Ebola presents an extra challenge during pregnancy⁷ and delivery.

At the Ebola treatment unit, medical personnel must fully⁸ cover themselves in protective gear that, especially in warm weather, become so hot and restrictive they can only work in it for an hour before risking dehydration⁹.

"The way we can give medical care is very difficult because we cannot spend a lot of time with people," Kauffman said. "You can't spend a lot of time talking. You can't spend a lot of time, really, with one-on-one care, so it makes it challenging in that way, too."

The Ebola outbreak is straining an already-overburdened health care system in a country still recovering from a devastating¹⁰ civil war.

"They've lost a lot of really good health professionals" to Ebola, Kauffman said. The disease is "decimating the health infrastructure¹¹. It's going to impact everything from food production to family security to trust of the government to [the] economy. … It's hard to see Sierra Leone having to fight another battle."

The long-term impact of the Ebola outbreak on West Africa's maternal¹² and infant mortality rates is still unknown. What seems certain is that the country's health care system remains¹³ crippled for now.

1 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

2 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

3 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

4 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

5 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

6 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

7 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 dehydration   

n.脱水，干燥

参考例句：

• He died from severe dehydration.他死于严重脱水。
• The eyes are often retracted from dehydration.眼睛常因脱水而凹陷。

10 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

11 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

12 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。