美国国家公共电台 NPR Discreetly Tracking Down Sex Partners To Stop A Surge In STDs

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Over the last five years, the United States has seen a steep increase in sexually transmitted diseases - 2.3 million Americans now have some form of STD. One county in Oregon is asking people diagnosed with the more serious forms to identify their partners so they can be contacted and treated. Kristian Foden-Vencil of Oregon Public Broadcasting spent an afternoon driving the foothills of Mt. Hood¹ with two health workers whose job is to find those partners and deliver the tough news.

KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL, BYLINE²: Mary Horman is a nurse and Liz Baca a disease intervention³ specialist. Both are with Clackamas County. Most of the work is done over the phone, informing people they've had a partner who's tested positive for gonorrhea or syphilis. It's a difficult conversation, even on the phone. But often, they can't reach the person. And Baca says that's when they have to hunt down the address, drive to the house and deliver the news face to face.

LIZ BACA: It can definitely be scary at times, especially those rural areas where you're really relying on the GPS to get you there. And, sometimes, there are roads that lead you to nowhere, and we have gotten lost.

FODEN-VENCIL: OK. Where are we going?

BACA: We are in Aurora⁴, and we are visiting a resident that was diagnosed with neurological syphilis.

FODEN-VENCIL: A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that, over the last five years, the number of syphilis cases in the U.S. has increased 76 percent. Gonorrhea cases are up 67 percent. Scientists say there are many reasons for the increases, from antibiotic-resistant bacteria to the ease of finding anonymous⁵ sex in an era of cellphone hookup apps. So far this afternoon, Baca and Horman have been challenged by a dog and had to leave a trailer park empty-handed. They were in the right spot but didn't know which door to knock on. And they couldn't just ask around because that would be a breach⁶ of medical confidentiality⁸. Their next call is a 64-year-old handyman, who we're just identifying as Larry for those same privacy reasons.

BACA: Hi. Larry?

MARY HORMAN: Hi.

LARRY: Liz?

BACA: Yes, it's me. How are you?

FODEN-VENCIL: This call is unusual because, actually, Larry's already seen a doctor and undergone a course of penicillin⁹, so he's expecting this follow-up visit. But Baca wants to know about his partners and understand the extent of his infection. So she shows him a book with graphic¹⁰ pictures of various skin conditions.

BACA: So do you recall any of these symptoms in the last several years? Do you...

LARRY: I do.

BACA: You do. OK.

LARRY: And I would probably say that the - a lesion, I think you called it...

BACA: A lesion, yes.

LARRY: ...I think occurred probably - like I'm saying I think it was probably about 10 years ago.

FODEN-VENCIL: So Larry's been living with syphilis for at least a decade without knowing it. Many sufferers can carry the disease but show no obvious symptoms, and that makes syphilis tougher to fight. Also the fact that the disease was almost eradicated¹¹ means some younger doctors don't recognize it. Larry says he used to have sex with multiple partners from Craigslist and can't remember names. Baca is crestfallen¹². Without names and after such a long time, it's too late to find anyone. But David Harvey, the head of the National Coalition¹³ of STD Directors, says her time wasn't wasted.

DAVID HARVEY: Almost universally, people appreciate having this information shared in a confidential⁷ way...

FODEN-VENCIL: And he says it all but guarantees people get treatment.

HARVEY: ...And it breaks the cycle of infection.

FODEN-VENCIL: And the head of public health in Clackamas County, Dr. Sarah Present, says tracking down partners is important, even if it leads to family strife¹⁴.

SARAH PRESENT: We do our absolute best to have the initial case talk to their partners for us. We don't want to have to be the bad guys.

FODEN-VENCIL: Baca and Horman climb back in their car, which is pointed¹⁵ away from Larry's just in case they need to make a quick getaway. Baca says she loves the job but follows a few basic rules - be friendly and visible, not fidgety because plenty of people out there have firearms and never enter a home. With that, the two public health workers head off to knock on another door.

For NPR News, I'm Kristian Foden-Vencil in Clackamas County, Ore.

1 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

4 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

5 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

6 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

7 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

8 confidentiality   

n.秘而不宣，保密

参考例句：

• They signed a confidentiality agreement. 他们签署了一份保守机密的协议。
• Cryptography is the foundation of supporting authentication, integrality and confidentiality. 而密码学是支持认证、完整性和机密性机制的基础。

9 penicillin   

n.青霉素，盘尼西林

参考例句：

• I should have asked him for a shot of penicillin.我应当让他给我打一针青霉素的。
• Penicillin was an extremely significant medical discovery.青霉素是极其重要的医学发现。

10 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

11 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

12 crestfallen   

adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的

参考例句：

• He gathered himself up and sneaked off,crushed and crestfallen.他爬起来，偷偷地溜了，一副垂头丧气、被斗败的样子。
• The youth looked exceedingly crestfallen.那青年看上去垂头丧气极了。

13 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

14 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。