经济学人363:危险群体(1)

 　　“THEY hang out in pockets,” says Richard Pan, a Sacramento paediatrician and member of California’s legislature. He is referring to parents who, invoking¹ a “philosophical exemption”, opt² not to give their children the state-recommended vaccinations⁴. In some pockets, such as the rural foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada, they may belong to the conservative don’t-tread-on-me crowd that distrusts all government recommendations simply because they come from the government. In others, such as the liberal organic-food-and-yoga belt along the coast, parents may forswear vaccines⁵ because they see the shots as dangerous, and the diseases they protect against as mild.

　　“他们常出现在一些比较另类的小地方。”说这话的是理查德-潘，他是萨科拉门托的一名儿科医生，也是加州立法机构的成员。他说的“他们”是那些援引“哲学豁免”规定，不给自己孩子注射州推荐疫苗的父母们。有些地方，比如加州内华达山脉丘陵地区的乡村，那里可能有保守的、以“不要踩我”为信条的民众，他们不相信所有政府推荐的东西，仅仅因为那是政府推荐的。在其他地方，比如沿海的“有机食品和瑜加”地带，这里的人们包容开放，但父母可能也会不给孩子接种疫苗。他们认为注射疫苗很危险，只能预防一些头疼脑热的小病。

　　These local concentrations of unvaccinated children pose a growing risk to public health. For the most common shots, vaccination³ rates for America overall, and even California, are still above 90%, at or near the levels considered necessary to provide “herd⁷ immunity⁸” for a population. But in places the rates have been falling for almost a decade. In many counties, towns and nursery schools--within Washington state, Oregon, Vermont and California, especially—vaccination rates are now far below the herd-immunity level.

　　未接种疫苗的孩子集中在一个地区给公共健康造成的风险越来越大。在美国，甚至加州，大多数普通疫苗的总体接种率仍高于90%，达到或接近公认的“群体免疫”所要求的水平。但在有些地方，差不多有10年，接种率一直在下降。现在，许多县、镇以及托儿所（特别是华盛顿、俄勒冈、佛蒙特、加利福尼亚等州），接种率远远低于群体免疫水平。

　　This trend, predictably, is leading to the resurgence⁹ of diseases considered vanquished¹⁰ long ago. In 2010, for example, California had an outbreak of whooping¹¹ cough, which at its height put 455 babies in hospital and killed ten of them. Elsewhere there have been outbreaks of measles¹².

　　可以预见，任由这种情况发展下去，人们认为早被征服了的一些疾病又会卷土重来。比如，2010年，加州百日咳爆发，最严重时，有455个孩子住进医院，10个孩子因此丧生。还有的地区爆发过麻疹。

　　The case for vaccination is clear. First, it makes the vaccinated⁶ individual either immune or resistant¹³ to a disease. Second, and more important, it interferes¹⁴ with contagion¹⁵ and thus makes the entire community safer, including those members, like newborn babies or the very sick, who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. The vaccination rate for herd immunity varies by disease, but usually falls between 85% and 95%.

　　支持疫苗接种的理由比较清楚。首先，它使接种个体具有免疫力，增强抗病能力；第二，这一点也更重要，它阻止疾病传播，使整个社区更加安全，其中包括那些回医疗原因不能接种的新生儿和重病者。不同的疾病对群体免疫接种率的要求不同，但通常应在85%到95%之间。

　　The case against vaccination, by contrast, is not clear. One view seems to be that the diseases in question merely give you a rash and are a nuisance, whereas the vaccines will make your child autistic. That particular myth, still peddled¹⁶ on the internet, originated with Andrew Wakefield, a British doctor, who published a paper in 1998 that suggested a link between the common MMR shot (against measles, mumps¹⁷ and rubella) and autism. The paper has since been entirely¹⁸ discredited¹⁹, and Dr Wakefield censured²⁰.

　　比较而言，反对疫苗接种的理由就没那么清楚。一种观点似乎是这样的：疫苗所能预防的不过是些皮疹之类的小毛病，而接种会使你的孩子变得孤僻。仍在网上流传的这个荒诞说法源自英国一位名叫安德鲁?韦克菲尔德的医生，1998年他在一篇文章中提出，常见的MMR接种（预防麻疹、腮腺炎和风疹）和孤独症之间存在关联。从那以后，人们就没有相信过这篇文章的说法，韦克菲尔德博士也受到了公开谴责。

1 invoking   

v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• You can customise the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You can customize the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自辞典例句

2 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

3 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

4 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

6 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

7 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

8 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

9 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

10 vanquished   

v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I vanquished her coldness with my assiduity. 我对她关心照顾从而消除了她的冷淡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 whooping   

发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的

参考例句：

• Whooping cough is very prevalent just now. 百日咳正在广泛流行。
• Have you had your child vaccinated against whooping cough? 你给你的孩子打过百日咳疫苗了吗？

12 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

13 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

14 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

15 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

16 peddled   

（沿街）叫卖( peddle的过去式和过去分词 )； 兜售； 宣传； 散播

参考例句：

• He has peddled the myth that he is supporting the local population. 他散布说他支持当地群众。
• The farmer peddled his fruit from house to house. 那个农民挨家挨户兜售他的水果。

17 mumps   

n.腮腺炎

参考例句：

• Sarah got mumps from her brother.萨拉的弟弟患腮腺炎，传染给她了。
• I was told not go near Charles. He is sickening for mumps.别人告诉我不要走近查尔斯， 他染上了流行性腮腺炎。

18 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

19 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

20 censured   

v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 )

参考例句：

• They were censured as traitors. 他们被指责为叛徒。 来自辞典例句
• The judge censured the driver but didn't fine him. 法官责备了司机但没罚他款。 来自辞典例句