您现在的位置: Language Tips> Audio & Video> Special Speed News  
   
 





 
New ways for poor countries to diagnose infectious diseases
[ 2009-08-04 14:32 ]

codebase="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,4,5,715"

standby="Loading Microsoft Windows Media Player components...">

pluginspage="http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=windows&ampsbp=mediaplayer&ampar=media&ampsba=plugin&"

name="MediaPlayer" volume="80" autostart="0">

Download

searchers suggest a substitute for human blood used in tests. And a cell phone microscope can take images of malaria and TB organisms.

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Two new discoveries could offer easier ways to identify infectious diseases in developing countries.

New ways for poor countries to diagnose infectious diseases

The first involves sheep. Researchers have found that hair sheep are a good source of blood for use in tests to diagnose infectious diseases in people.

In developed countries, microbiologists do these tests with blood from wool sheep or horses. But for developing countries, that costs too much. So tests often use human blood instead.

Ellen Yeh from the Stanford University's School of Medicine in California was one of the authors of the study. She explains the problems with using human blood.

ELLEN YEH: "First off, there is the infectious disease risk because if you use human blood there's a lot of transmissible diseases. In particular, in Africa, you'd be worried about things like H.I.V. The other big problem with using human blood for making these blood agar plates is that they're actually not accurate."

Doctor Yeh says tests with human blood can produce the wrong results, so they are not dependable.

The study found that blood from hair sheep is an excellent substitute. It produced the same results as tests using wool sheep and horses.

Also, hair sheep require less care than wool sheep. They could better handle hot, dry climates because they do not have a lot of wool. It also means they do not need to be sheared.

ELLEN YEH: "Having to shear the sheep for wool is actually very costly and labor intensive. The other advantages of hair sheep include that it's more resistant to parasites, so they're less prone to infection."

The scientists also tested an easier, cheaper way to prepare and process the blood. They found this new method effective. The blood can be collected directly into bags, much like with human donors.

The study appeared last month in the online journal PLoS One, from the Public Library of Science.

The same journal also published a report in July on an experimental device called the CellScope. The CellScope is a cell phone microscope. Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, developed it.

They attached small microscope lenses to a holder fitted to a mobile phone. The phone's camera was able to take color images of malaria parasites and tuberculosis bacteria in blood and sputum. The team used a special dye and special lighting to make the images bright.

The pictures could also be sent wirelessly to distant experts for diagnosis.

Dan Fletcher heads the team that developed the CellScope. He notes that many poor areas of the world have few hospitals, yet have mobile phone networks that are well developed.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. Transcripts and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

TB: tuberculosis(结核病)的缩写

agar: 琼脂

sputum: 唾液

podcast: 播客

Related stories:

What you can do to prevent health problems while traveling

New study disputes 'depression gene' finding

Connecting Africa's health workers

Laying the roots for healthy teeth in young children

(Source: VOA 英语点津编辑)

英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“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。
相关文章 Related Story
 
 
 
本频道最新推荐
 
财富效应 wealth effect
10 killed in Chongqing storms
英青少年发“性短信”渐成风
非主流少年 Scene kid
意总理女儿公开指责老爸与女模曝绯闻
翻吧推荐
 
论坛热贴
 
how to translate "死猪不怕开水烫"?
这些英文表达 搞错很尴尬
“形散而神不散”如何翻译?
"街拍“怎么翻译
阿甘正传经典语录