双语新闻：国际卫生专家就疾病“通过空气传播”的新定义达成一致
International health experts have agreed on a new definition of what it means for a disease to spread "through the air."
国际卫生专家就疾病“通过空气传播”的新定义达成一致。
The agreement came after the World Health Organization (WHO) cooperated with hundreds of international health experts to explain or clarify the meaning. The WHO said the technical document it issued was the first step towards finding better methods to prevent airborne disease spread.
世界卫生组织(WHO)与数百名国际卫生专家合作，解释或澄清了该协议的含义。世界卫生组织表示，它发布的技术文件是找到更好的方法来防止空气传播疾病的第一步。
The document says the term "through the air" can be used for infectious diseases in which the main spread involves a pathogen traveling through the air or being suspended in the air. The experts said this is similar to the official description of "waterborne" diseases.
该文件称，“空气传播”一词可用于主要传播病原体通过空气传播或悬浮在空气中的传染病。专家们表示，这与官方对“水传播”疾病的描述类似。
The WHO's new explanation is an effort to avoid public misunderstandings about how some diseases can be passed through the air or are "airborne."
世界卫生组织的新解释是为了避免公众对某些疾病如何通过空气传播或“空气传播”产生误解。
Such misunderstandings happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO was criticized by many scientists during the early days of COVID-19 in 2020. They accused the U.N. health agency of failing to warn the public early on that the virus could spread through the air.
这种误解在新冠肺炎大流行期间就出现过。在2020年新冠肺炎疫情初期，世卫组织受到了许多科学家的批评。他们指责世卫组织未能及早警告公众这种病毒可能通过空气传播。
The scientists said this led to too much public guidance centered on handwashing and similar measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They said this guidance ignored other measures, such as looking at the spread of viruses through ventilation systems.
科学家们表示，这导致了太多以洗手和类似措施为中心的公共指导，以防止COVID-19的传播。他们说，这一指导方针忽略了其他措施，比如观察病毒通过通风系统的传播。
By July 2020, the agency said there was "evidence emerging" of airborne spread. Soumya Swaminathan was WHO chief scientist during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Swaminathan began a process to agree on a new definition for airborne disease spread. She later said she thinks the agency should have been more forceful in that message "much earlier."
到2020年7月，该机构表示，有“证据显示”空气传播。Soumya Swaminathan在COVID-19大流行开始时担任世卫组织首席科学家。斯瓦米纳坦开始就空气传播疾病的新定义达成一致。她后来表示，她认为该机构应该“更早地”发出更有力的信息。
Swaminathan's successor, Jeremy Farrar, recently told Reuters news agency the new definition was about more than COVID-19. He added that at the beginning of the pandemic there was a lack of available evidence. He said experts including the WHO had acted in "good faith." At the time, he headed the Wellcome Trust charity and advised the British government on COVID-19.
斯瓦米纳坦的继任者杰里米·法拉最近告诉路透社，新定义不仅仅是关于COVID-19。他补充说，在大流行开始时，缺乏可用的证据。他说，包括世界卫生组织在内的专家本着“善意”行事。当时，他领导了惠康信托慈善机构，并为英国政府提供了有关新冠肺炎的建议。
Farrar said the new definition would permit discussions to begin about issues such as ventilation in different kinds of buildings including hospitals and schools. He compared the issue to the realization that blood-borne viruses, like HIV or hepatitis B, could be spread by medics not wearing gloves.
Farrar说，新的定义将允许开始讨论诸如医院和学校等不同类型建筑物的通风问题。他把这个问题比作认识到血液传播的病毒，如艾滋病毒或乙型肝炎，可能通过不戴手套的医务人员传播。
"When I started out, medical students, nurses, doctors, none of us wore gloves to take blood," Farrar said. "Now it is unthinkable that you wouldn't wear gloves. But that came because everyone agreed on what the issue was, they agreed on the terminology... [The change, in practice,] came later," he added.
“当我开始工作时，医学院学生、护士、医生，我们都不戴手套采血，”Farrar说。“现在你不戴手套是不可想象的。但这是因为每个人都同意问题是什么，他们同意术语……(实际上，这种变化)是后来才出现的，”他补充道。
国际卫生专家就疾病“通过空气传播”的新定义达成一致。
The agreement came after the World Health Organization (WHO) cooperated with hundreds of international health experts to explain or clarify the meaning. The WHO said the technical document it issued was the first step towards finding better methods to prevent airborne disease spread.
世界卫生组织(WHO)与数百名国际卫生专家合作，解释或澄清了该协议的含义。世界卫生组织表示，它发布的技术文件是找到更好的方法来防止空气传播疾病的第一步。
The document says the term "through the air" can be used for infectious diseases in which the main spread involves a pathogen traveling through the air or being suspended in the air. The experts said this is similar to the official description of "waterborne" diseases.
该文件称，“空气传播”一词可用于主要传播病原体通过空气传播或悬浮在空气中的传染病。专家们表示，这与官方对“水传播”疾病的描述类似。
The WHO's new explanation is an effort to avoid public misunderstandings about how some diseases can be passed through the air or are "airborne."
世界卫生组织的新解释是为了避免公众对某些疾病如何通过空气传播或“空气传播”产生误解。
Such misunderstandings happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO was criticized by many scientists during the early days of COVID-19 in 2020. They accused the U.N. health agency of failing to warn the public early on that the virus could spread through the air.
这种误解在新冠肺炎大流行期间就出现过。在2020年新冠肺炎疫情初期，世卫组织受到了许多科学家的批评。他们指责世卫组织未能及早警告公众这种病毒可能通过空气传播。
The scientists said this led to too much public guidance centered on handwashing and similar measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They said this guidance ignored other measures, such as looking at the spread of viruses through ventilation systems.
科学家们表示，这导致了太多以洗手和类似措施为中心的公共指导，以防止COVID-19的传播。他们说，这一指导方针忽略了其他措施，比如观察病毒通过通风系统的传播。
By July 2020, the agency said there was "evidence emerging" of airborne spread. Soumya Swaminathan was WHO chief scientist during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Swaminathan began a process to agree on a new definition for airborne disease spread. She later said she thinks the agency should have been more forceful in that message "much earlier."
到2020年7月，该机构表示，有“证据显示”空气传播。Soumya Swaminathan在COVID-19大流行开始时担任世卫组织首席科学家。斯瓦米纳坦开始就空气传播疾病的新定义达成一致。她后来表示，她认为该机构应该“更早地”发出更有力的信息。
Swaminathan's successor, Jeremy Farrar, recently told Reuters news agency the new definition was about more than COVID-19. He added that at the beginning of the pandemic there was a lack of available evidence. He said experts including the WHO had acted in "good faith." At the time, he headed the Wellcome Trust charity and advised the British government on COVID-19.
斯瓦米纳坦的继任者杰里米·法拉最近告诉路透社，新定义不仅仅是关于COVID-19。他补充说，在大流行开始时，缺乏可用的证据。他说，包括世界卫生组织在内的专家本着“善意”行事。当时，他领导了惠康信托慈善机构，并为英国政府提供了有关新冠肺炎的建议。
Farrar said the new definition would permit discussions to begin about issues such as ventilation in different kinds of buildings including hospitals and schools. He compared the issue to the realization that blood-borne viruses, like HIV or hepatitis B, could be spread by medics not wearing gloves.
Farrar说，新的定义将允许开始讨论诸如医院和学校等不同类型建筑物的通风问题。他把这个问题比作认识到血液传播的病毒，如艾滋病毒或乙型肝炎，可能通过不戴手套的医务人员传播。
"When I started out, medical students, nurses, doctors, none of us wore gloves to take blood," Farrar said. "Now it is unthinkable that you wouldn't wear gloves. But that came because everyone agreed on what the issue was, they agreed on the terminology... [The change, in practice,] came later," he added.
“当我开始工作时，医学院学生、护士、医生，我们都不戴手套采血，”Farrar说。“现在你不戴手套是不可想象的。但这是因为每个人都同意问题是什么，他们同意术语……(实际上，这种变化)是后来才出现的，”他补充道。
