美国国家公共电台 NPR In A Measles Outbreak, Demand For Vaccine Spikes

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

More than 50 people have been infected by the measles¹ in the Pacific Northwest. Kristian Foden-Vencil of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the outbreak is prompting people to get vaccinated³.

KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL, BYLINE⁴: Sea Mar⁵ is a community health center in Vancouver, Washington. It caters⁶ to low-income and undocumented people. Administrator⁷ Sean Brannon says so many have been coming in for measles shots, they had to order 10 times as much vaccine⁸ as usual.

SHAWN BRANNAN: I've noticed that in larger populations that typically don't vaccinate² their children for their own reasons are now in a mad dash, if you will, to get vaccinated.

FODEN-VENCIL: One of those population groups includes people from the former Soviet⁹ Union, where distrust of government runs deep. Others have their own reasons not to vaccinate.

BRANNAN: Unfortunately, once people Google, they find all these warnings and adverse¹⁰ reactions and it can sometimes blur¹¹ what's really important for the child.

FODEN-VENCIL: And in some cases, people see their kids with cold symptoms and worry it might be measles so they come in for vaccines¹², too. Clark County Public Health Director Dr. Alan Melnick is exasperated¹³.

ALAN MELNICK: I mean, this is a lousy way to get vaccination¹⁴ rates up. I wish we had vaccination rates up ahead of time. I wish it didn't take an outbreak and one child already being hospitalized.

FODEN-VENCIL: The Washington State Health Department says about 500 people were immunized against measles in this area last January. This January, there've been more than 3,000. Across the Columbia River, in Portland, Ore., nurse practitioner¹⁵ Nancy Casey helps run the health center at Roosevelt High School. She remembers a 16-year-old who came to her to get shots.

NANCY CASEY: The child said, you know, my mom really doesn't believe in vaccines, but I'm thinking, you know, I want to start. And so we get into a conversation 'cause a lot that happens here is, well, why doesn't your parent, you know, want you to have vaccines? And, you know, do they know you're here? And what would they say if you were here?

FODEN-VENCIL: Oregon law allows kids 15 or older to consent to physical health care. So she teaches students about vaccines and helps them decide what to do and whether to call their parents. The 16-year-old decided¹⁶ to get the shots. Her parents never saw a bill. It was sent to a state Medicaid program.

CASEY: And by the end of her catching¹⁷ up to her immunization schedule over, like, a year and a half period, she had told her mom. And her mom was not thrilled, but she respected it.

FODEN-VENCIL: Back across the Columbia River, in Vancouver, Wash., Shona Carter (ph) sits at home. She has leukemia, which means doctors had to kill-off her immune system and give her a new one in the form of a bone marrow¹⁸ transplant. The trouble is her new immune system is just that - new.

SHONA CARTER: Well, I mean, you're a baby. You're brand-new. You have to get all of your vaccines redone.

FODEN-VENCIL: Right now, her immune system isn't strong enough to get the measles shot, and the outbreak has her very worried. So she follows doctor's orders, staying at home all the time, using lots of hand sanitizer and sometimes a mask.

CARTER: I don't want any setbacks. And this is one of my fears, is, you know, getting something like the measles that could potentially kill me because I'm not strong enough to fight it off.

FODEN-VENCIL: Measles can kill or blind, but that's rare. Washington and Oregon are two of 17 states that let children go to school unvaccinated because of personal beliefs. Lawmakers are considering changes. For NPR News, I'm Kristian Foden-Vencil in Vancouver, Wash.

1 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。

2 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

3 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？

4 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。

5 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

6 caters   

提供饮食及服务( cater的第三人称单数 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• That shop caters exclusively to the weaker sex. 那家商店专供妇女需要的商品。
• The boutique caters for a rather select clientele. 这家精品店为特定的顾客群服务。

7 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

8 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

9 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

10 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

11 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

12 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。

13 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

14 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。

15 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

18 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。