CNN 2011-06-14

Every week this summer, we'll be doing these special web shows. Today, we're talking about a story we covered toward the end of the school year: an outbreak of E. coli. That's a specific kind of bacteria. You can get it from contaminated food or water, and it can cause some pretty serious health problems.

Officials say this outbreak is limited to an area around one city in Germany. So far, more than 20 people have died from the bacteria. Thousands of people have gotten sick from it. One of the big things officials are trying to figure out is where this E. coli came from. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to explain how scientists do that and what people can do to avoid getting sick.

It can be difficult sometimes to figure out exactly from where this came. You know, this is sort of a real medical investigation¹. They literally² have to trace back from the farm to the fork all the different steps of these different foods.

So, for example, bean sprouts³ being looked at right now. So far, 23 of 40 samples have come back negative. All that tells you is that, so far, they haven't found it. It doesn't mean that it wasn't there. And I can also tell you that sometimes you never get a clear answer as to exactly from where this bacteria originated.

About 2,200 people infected; 60% of them women. 600 of them also got a very serious complication of this infection called HUS: hemolytic-uremic syndrome⁴. Your blood doesn't clot⁵ as well. Your kidneys can start to fail. 70% of the people that developed that were also women. Unclear why that is. It could be that women are eating more of whatever the contaminated food was.

For most people who get this infection, it's going to be a couple of bad days. Stomach cramping⁶, stomach pains. They're not going to need antibiotics⁷. But obviously, in a few people, as you're hearing about, the complications can be more severe.

For the consumer, obviously, washing your hands, washing your food, not cross-contaminating your food: these are the things a consumer can do. But distributors, the manufacturers, the people who are getting this food to your table, they obviously have to take some responsibility here as well, in terms of making sure this food is free of contamination.

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 sprouts   

n.新芽，嫩枝( sprout的名词复数 )v.发芽( sprout的第三人称单数 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• The wheat sprouts grew perceptibly after the rain. 下了一场雨，麦苗立刻见长。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The sprouts have pushed up the earth. 嫩芽把土顶起来了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

5 clot   

n.凝块；v.使凝成块

参考例句：

• Platelets are one of the components required to make blood clot.血小板是血液凝固的必须成分之一。
• The patient's blood refused to clot.病人的血液无法凝结。

6 cramping   

图像压缩

参考例句：

• The bleeding may keep my left hand from cramping. 淌血会叫我的左手不抽筋。
• This loss of sodium can cause dehydration and cramping. 钠流失会造成脱水和抽筋。

7 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。