美国
反疫苗运动:疾病肆虐,美国还能坚持吗?
2019-02-13
今日导读
疫苗接种一直以来都被认为是预防传染性疾病最有效的手段。而如今,美国越来越多的父母对疫苗产生恐惧和抗拒,甚至发展成一次次的“反疫苗运动”。特朗普在推特上表示,强制接种疫苗让许多孩子患上了自闭症。关于疫苗接种与自闭症之间的联系,医学界尚未定论。但可以肯定的是,拒绝接种疫苗已经让麻疹这类传染病再次肆虐。近日,美国波特兰附近一反疫苗地区就因麻疹爆发而进入紧急状况。让我们跟着毛西老师一起看一下关于这则事件的报道。
带着问题听讲解
Q1: 文中用了哪两个词表示“有传染性的”?
Q2: course 在文中是什么意思?
Q3: 为什么美国会突然爆发麻疹疫情?试用英语描述。
新闻正文
An anti-vaccination 'hotspot' near Portland declares an emergency over measles outbreak
因麻疹爆发,美国波特兰附近一反疫苗的高危地区宣布紧急情况
A quickly escalating measles outbreak around Portland, Oregon, has led health officials in nearby Clark County, Washington, to declare a public health emergency.
因一场迅速升级的麻疹感染席卷了美国俄勒冈州的波特兰地区,在该地区附近的华盛顿州克拉克县内,健康官员宣布进入公共健康紧急状态。
At the beginning of last week, there were only a handful of confirmed cases. On Friday, the day the emergency was declared, there were 19. The latest update came Tuesday, when county officials said they had confirmed 23 cases and were investigating two more suspected cases. The vast majority of those who have fallen ill had not been immunized.
上周伊始,只有少数确诊案例。当周五紧急状态宣布时,已有 19 人确诊。而根据周二最新的数据,该县官员称他们确认已有 23 例病患,并仍在调查两个可疑案例。绝大多数病患未曾进行过免疫接种。
The outbreak makes concrete the fears of pediatric epidemiologists that a citadel of the movement against compulsory vaccination could be susceptible to the rapid spread of a potentially deadly disease.
此次疾病爆发,证实了儿科流行病学家的担忧。他们认为,反对强制免疫运动发生的阵地,可能成为易致死疾病传播的温床。
State data shows that 7.9 percent of children in Clark County were exempted in the 2017-18 school year from vaccines required for kindergarten entry, which includes the two-dose course for measles that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is 97 percent effective. Nationally, about 2 percent of children went without required immunization for nonmedical reasons.
该州数据显示,克拉克县有 7.9%的孩子在 2017-18 学年中没有注射幼儿园入学时要求注射的疫苗,这其中就包括两剂针对麻疹的药物。美国疾病预防控制中心表示这种药物有效率高达 97%。全国范围内,约 2%的孩子因为非医学的原因不接种强制疫苗。
Because measles is among the most highly contagious of all infectious diseases, it is bound to spring up in areas with low vaccination rates, according to Peter J. Hotez, a professor of pediatrics and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
彼得·J·霍特兹是一名儿科学教授,同时也是休斯敦贝勒医学院国家热带医学系的院长。他表示,因为麻疹是所有传染病中最可能通过接触传染的,所以一定会在疫苗接种率低的地方迅速爆发。
"This is something I've predicted for a while now," he said of the public health emergency in Clark County. "It's really awful and really tragic and totally preventable."
他谈到克拉克县的公共卫生紧急情况时表示:“这是我之前就已经预测到的事。这很可怕,非常令人悲痛,而且完全是可以预防的。”
————— 文章来源 / 华盛顿邮报
重点词汇
vaccination/ˌvæksɪˈneɪʃn/
n. 疫苗接种
e.g.
派生词:vaccinate (v.); vaccine (n.)
搭配短语:sb. be vaccinated against sth.
hotspot/ˈhɑːt spɑːt/
n. 热岛;有重要活动,或者非常危险的地方
e.g.
搭配短语:the world's hot spots
measles/ˈmiːzlz/
n. 麻疹
e.g.
*更多讲解见今日“知识卡片”
outbreak/ˈaʊtbreɪk/
n. 爆发,突然发生
e.g.
例句:the outbreak of the Second World War
escalate/ˈeskəleɪt/
v. 迅速增长,不断恶化
e.g.
例句:The fighting escalated into a full-scale war.
county/ˈkaʊnti/
n. (英国、爱尔兰的)郡;(美国的)县
a handful of
少量的
immunize/ˈɪmjunaɪz/
v. (尤指通过注射疫苗)使免疫
e.g.
搭配短语:immunize sb. against sth.
例句:The vaccine is used to immunize children against measles.
词义辨析
vaccinate, immunize
vaccinate 只指“注射疫苗”;而 immunize 所指不仅包括注射,还涉及注射之后疫苗起效的免疫作用。
pediatric/ˌpiːdiˈætrɪk/
adj. 小儿科的
e.g.
词根词缀:ped- 表“儿童的,与儿童有关的”
派生词:pedophile (n.); pediatrics (n.)
epidemiologist/ˌepɪˌdiːmiˈɑːlədʒɪst/
n. 流行病学家
e.g.
派生词:epidemic (adj.); epidemiology (n.)
citadel/ˈsɪtədəl/
n. 堡垒, 要塞
compulsory/kəmˈpʌlsəri/
adj. (因法律或规则而)必须做的,强制的,强迫的
susceptible/səˈseptəbl/
adj. 易受影响(或伤害等)的
e.g.
例句:He's highly susceptible to flattery.
例句:Some plants are more susceptible to frost damage.
exempt from
免除,豁免
e.g.
例句:The customers are exempt from all charges. (adj.)
搭配短语:be exempted from paying the tax (v.)
dose/doʊs/
n. (药的)一剂,一服
e.g.
英文释义:an amount of a medicine or a drug that is taken once
course/kɔːrs/
n. (医疗、服药等的)疗程
contagious/kənˈteɪdʒəs/
adj. (疾病)接触传染的;(情绪,感觉)有感染力的
e.g.
搭配短语:a contagious laugh
infectious/ɪnˈfekʃəs/
adj. (疾病)传染的;有感染力的
e.g.
例句:Flu is highly infectious.
搭配短语:an infectious laugh
词义辨析
contagious, infectious
两者都可以表示“疾病的传染”和“有感染力”的意思。在表示“疾病传染”时,infectious 一般暗示疾病通过呼吸传染的,contagious 则指通过接触传染的。
be bound to
很可能的,极有可能的
e.g.
例句:You've done so much work—you're bound to pass the exam.
spring up
迅速出现;突然兴起
e.g.
英文释义:to appear or develop quickly or suddenly
搭配短语:spring up like mushrooms
dean/diːn/
n. (大学的)学院院长,系主任
拓展内容
美国反疫苗运动的兴起
自从 1963 年麻疹疫苗正式在美国批准使用后,几十年间,大约有 1900 万儿童接受了免疫接种,美国麻疹的发病率也大大降低。大部分父母对于曾经麻疹肆虐的状况缺乏了解,加上不清楚疫苗接种会带来的后果,不少人逐渐申请免除疫苗接种,也开始有法案要求免除麻疹疫苗的强制注射。
1998 年,英国肠胃病学家 Andrew Wakefield 声称麻疹疫苗会诱发自闭症。民众间反疫苗的呼声越来越高,许多明星也参与到反疫苗运动中来。
虽然“疫苗诱发自闭症”的言论很快被证实为谣言,Wakefield 医生也由于涉嫌文章造假而被吊销了行医执照,但民众对于疫苗诱发症的恐慌仍在蔓延。更有参议员提出:父母应有是否注册疫苗的选择权。
随着反疫苗运动的盛行,美国疾病控制与预防中心 2000 年宣布在美国彻底根除的麻疹,又在 15 年后卷土重来。麻疹疫苗接种的缺失正是疫情再度爆发的主要原因。






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