VOA慢速英语: 致命性脊髓灰质炎病毒（小儿麻痹症）是否存在？（双语）

Is There a Deadly Polio Virus Hiding Somewhere?

致命性脊髓灰质炎病毒(小儿麻痹症)是否存在?

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道

Is a new deadly polio virus hiding somewhere in the world? Some scientists believe this might be the case.

是有一种新的致命性脊髓灰质炎病毒(小儿麻痹症)隐藏在这个世界的某个角落吗?一些科学家认为可能就是就是如此。

Polio does not usually kill. The disease can cause paralysis, leaving victims unable to walk or move parts of their bodies.

脊髓灰质炎通常不会致命，但是会导致瘫痪，使得受害者无法行走或移动自己的身体的一些部位。

But polio was deadly during a 2010 spread of the virus in the Republic of Congo. Nearly half of the 445 people infected with the virus died.

但2010年脊髓灰质炎病毒在刚果的传播却是致命的，这一次使得感染此病毒的445人中将近一半的人死亡。

VOA’s Steve Baragona reports that new research says there might have been a weak spot in the polio vaccine. A mutated, or changed, polio virus was able to resist the antibodies created by the vaccine. The study says a mutated polio virus was responsible for that unusually deadly outbreak.

美国之音的史蒂夫·巴拉戈纳报道称，新的研究表明脊髓灰质炎疫苗可能有一个弱点。一种变异脊髓灰质炎病毒成功抵御了疫苗产生的抗体。该研究表明，一种变异脊髓灰质炎病毒导致了刚果的不同寻常的致命性疾病爆发。

The researchers of the study say their findings show new and dangerous kinds, or strains, of polio may emerge as the goal of getting rid of the virus nears.

这项研究的研究人员称，他们的研究结果表明，随着这种近似病毒的消除，新型或危险类型的脊髓灰质炎可能会出现。

Scientist Felix Drexler studies viruses at the University of Bonn in Germany. He says the patients in the Congo outbreak were unusual in an important way.

在德国波恩大学研究病毒的科学家菲利克斯·德雷克斯勒称，在刚果疾病暴发中的病人在某些方面很不寻常。

“About half of them remembered having taken three doses of live vaccine. That made it even more bizarre, because if they had been vaccinated, they shouldn’t be sick.”

“他们中其中近一半的人回忆称注射过三剂活疫苗，这样就更加离奇了，因为如果他们接种过疫苗，就不会患病的。”

Mr. Drexler and researchers in Europe and Africa studied that polio virus. They found it had some new mutations. The mutations prevented antibodies that fight the virus from attaching to the virus.

德雷克斯勒先生和欧洲以及非洲的研究人员一起研究了脊髓灰质炎病毒，他们发现这种病毒有了一些新的突变，这种突变阻止了对抗这种病毒的抗体依附到病毒上。

“We thought, ‘Wow, maybe that could affect the ability of the antibodies in human blood to neutralize the virus.’ And yes, it did.”

“当时我们就想，‘奥，这可能会影响人类血液中的抗体压制此病毒的能力。’而且，事实正是如此。”

The researchers reported their findings in the publication, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They tested the virus in Germany against blood samples from people with better than average vaccination coverage.

研究人员在《美国国家科学院院刊》上发表了他们的研究结果，他们测试了德国对抗这种病毒的人血样本，这些人血样本都来自超出一般疫苗接种覆盖率的人群。

“高达30%的人实际上已经被认为完全不受(疫苗接种)保护。”

“Up to 30 percent actually had to be considered completely unprotected.”

“实际上，其中多达30%的人被认为是完全不受所接种疫苗保护的。”

The Republic of Congo had been polio free before the 2010 outbreak. It took four nationwide immunization campaigns to stop the mutated virus.

刚果共和国在2010年这次病毒爆发之前，一直没有出现过脊髓灰质炎病毒。刚果采取了四次全国性免疫运动来阻止该变异病毒。

Felix Drexler says the effort worked because almost every man, woman and child got vaccinated with the strongest form of the vaccine.

德雷克斯勒称，因为几乎男女老少所有人都接种了最强类型的疫苗，所以该措施起到了效果。

Historically, the polio vaccine has worked. But Mr. Drexler and others are now wondering how well it works.

从历史上来看，脊髓灰质炎疫苗是有效果的，但是德雷克斯勒先生和其他研究人员想知道该疫苗在多大程度上有效果。

“The question that the experts are asking is, is the vaccine good enough to enable us to eradicate polio virus?”

“专家们想知道的是，该疫苗是否足够好到可以根除灰质炎病毒。”

Experts say the end of polio is near. There have been fewer than 150 cases in the world this year. And the virus is found mostly in just three countries.

专家们称，脊髓灰质炎病毒很快就会被消灭，今年全球只有不到150个病例，而且该病毒仅仅有三个国家发现有该病毒的存在。

Olen Kew studies viruses with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He says the problem in Congo was not the vaccine. He notes that the vaccine has prevented the polio virus everywhere it has been used. He blames Congo’s civil unrest in the 1990s and early 2000s that had messed up vaccination campaigns.

在美国疾病控制和预防中心研究病毒的Olen Kew称，刚果的问题不在于疫苗，他指出，在各个地方用此疫苗都预防了脊髓灰质炎病毒的传播。他指责称，刚果在上世纪90年代和本世纪初的内乱打乱了疫苗接种运动。

“What happened in Congo was, it hadn’t been used for quite a long period of time and a susceptible group opened up. And then when the virus was introduced, it had devastating effects.”

“刚果是因为在很长一段时间内，未接种该疫苗，从而导致刚果产生了一批易感染人群，然后当这种病毒来临时，就会产生毁灭性的影响。”

Walt Orenstein is with the Emory Vaccine Center. He says stronger vaccines might be helpful. But, he adds, the end of polio is very close. He believes that the tools currently in use could do the job.

在埃默里疫苗中心工作的沃尔特·奥伦斯坦称，更强的疫苗可能会有用。但是他补充道脊髓灰质炎很快就会被消灭。并认为目前接种的这种疫苗就能做到这点。

“I think the most important message, to me, is we need to push hard and push fast and terminate transmission as quickly as possible.”

“我认为对我来说最重要的信息就是，我们需要更努力更快的推动疫苗的接种，从而尽可能快的结束该病毒的传播。”

“对我来说最重要的信息就是，我们需要更努力更快地推动接种，并尽可能快地终止病毒传播。”

Mr. Orenstein says that health workers need to clear the last few areas where the polio virus exists. Then, he says, talk about mutant strains or stronger vaccines would be unnecessary.

奥伦斯坦先生称，医疗卫生人员需要去脊髓灰质炎病毒存在的最后几个地区，做清除工作。并称那时，就再也没有必要讨论什么突变毒株或什么更厉害的他疫苗了。

I’m Anna Matteo.

我是安娜·马特奥。