可怕的“摇晃婴儿综合征”

没有什么罪行比杀害婴儿更令人震惊或愤怒的了。近期，美国频频有男女被控因孩子长时间啼哭或不愿睡觉，感到非常烦躁，便以猛烈摇晃的方法，企图制止他们哭闹，结果要了婴儿的性命。今天就让我们一起了解一下什么是“摇晃婴儿综合征”及其起源。

Shaken baby syndrome is the most common cause of death or serious neurological injury resulting from child abuse.
“摇晃婴儿综合征”是因虐童行为导致儿童或造成其神经严重受损最常见的原因。

It has been a recognized diagnosis for several decades, though many medical professionals now prefer the term abusive head trauma.
“摇晃婴儿综合征”作为一种得到认可的诊断结果已有几十年的历史了，不过现在很多医学专家更喜欢用“虐待性头部创伤”这个说法。

Shaken baby syndrome is defined by a constellation of symptoms known as the triad: brain swelling, bleeding on the surface of the brain and bleeding behind the eyes. For years, those three symptoms by themselves were uniformly accepted as evidence that a crime had been committed, even in the absence of bruises, broken bones or other signs of abuse.
这种综合征是由一系列称为“三要素”的症状来定义的：脑肿胀、脑表面出血、视网膜出血。多年来，这三种症状一直被认为是发生了犯罪行为的证据，即便没有淤青、骨折或其他虐待迹象。

The concept of shaken baby syndrome is introduced to many Americans through a Massachusetts criminal case: the 1997 murder trial of Louise Woodward, an 18-year-old British au pair accused of having shaken an 8-month-old boy, Matthew Eappen, so aggressively that he died.
很多美国人是通过马萨诸塞州的一起刑事案件，了解到摇晃婴儿综合征这个概念的。该案在1997年庭审，当时，18岁的英国交换生路易丝·伍德沃德被控用力摇晃八个月大的婴儿马修·伊彭致其死亡。

（中国日报网英语点津 丁一）