English 中文网 漫画网 爱新闻iNews 翻译论坛
中国网站品牌栏目(频道)
当前位置: Language Tips> Audio & Video> 新闻播报> Special Speed News VOA慢速

Defeat malaria, or just control it? New polio vaccine

[ 2010-11-03 15:39]     字号 [] [] []  
免费订阅30天China Daily双语新闻手机报:移动用户编辑短信CD至106580009009

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Malaria kills about one million people a year and sickens another 250 million. Most of the deaths are in young children in Africa. Malaria causes 20 percent of childhood deaths in Africa.

People become infected when they are bitten by mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasite.

A new study estimates the possibility of ending malaria in countries that have the deadliest form of the disease. Researchers found that this could be possible in most parts of the world within ten to 15 years.

What it would require, they say, is reducing the spread of malaria by 90 percent from 2007 rates.

An international team created mathematical models and maps of areas where the disease is gone or almost gone. Andrew Tatem, an assistant professor at the University of Florida, led the study. Professor Tatem says a number of things have helped countries successfully fight malaria.

ANDREW TATEM: " ... such as relatively low levels of malaria risk to start with, political stability, a good health system and low levels of population movement bringing in infections from elsewhere."

The study says malaria could be eliminated if countries are serious about using proven control measures. These include insecticides and bed nets.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation partly financed the research. The study appears in the Lancet medical journal in a series of reports on eliminating malaria.

Other malaria experts writing in the Lancet expressed concern about giving too much attention to eliminating malaria. They say such a goal could take many years, if it is possible at all. The concern is that resources for controlling malaria could be lost if the money is spent instead on trying to defeat it.

Years of efforts to eliminate another disease, polio, have largely succeeded. Now, the World Health Organization says a new vaccine combination will help in the fight to end polio in countries where it is still found.

That report, based on a study from India, also appears in the Lancet.

There are three kinds of polio virus. Vaccination campaigns normally use vaccines designed to protect against all three types.

But cases of the type two virus have not been seen in years. And the new study confirmed that the type two vaccine reduces the effectiveness of the other vaccines when given together.

To avoid that problem, the new combination contains vaccine only for the type one and type three polio viruses.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. For more health news, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

Related stories:

Training medical teams to communicate better during operations

Turning images into sensations to assist the blind

What a couple's arguing 'style' may say about their marriage

Hand washing is up in public restrooms in US

(来源:VOA 编辑:陈丹妮)

 
中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
 

关注和订阅

人气排行

翻译服务

中国日报网翻译工作室

我们提供:媒体、文化、财经法律等专业领域的中英互译服务
电话:010-84883468
邮件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn