万物简史 第449期:小生物的世界(20)

 One of the odder aspects of infection is that microbes that normally do no harm at all sometimes get into the wrong parts of the body and "go kind of crazy," 感染有许多古怪的方面。其中之一是，有些在正常情况下完全无害的微生物，有时候会进入人体本来不该它们去的部分，

in the words of Dr. Bryan Marsh¹, an infectious diseases specialist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hamphire. 用新罕布什尔州莱巴嫩城达特茅斯-希契科克医疗中心的传染病专家布赖恩·马什的话来说——“有点儿发了狂”。

"It happens all the time with car accidents when people suffer internal injuries. “这种总是出现在发生了车祸，有人受了内伤的时候。

Microbes that are normally benign² in the gut³ get into other parts of the body—the bloodstream, for instance—and cause terrible havoc⁴." 通常情况下肠胃里面无害的微生物就会进入身体的其他部分——比如流动的血液，产生严重的破坏作用。”

The scariest, most out-of-control bacterial⁵ disorder⁶ of the moment is a disease called necrotizing fasciitis 眼下，最罕见的也是是无法控制的细菌引起的疾病，是一种会导致坏死病的筋膜炎。

in which bacteria essentially⁷ eat the victim from the inside out, devouring⁸ internal tissue and leaving behind a pulpy⁹, noxious¹⁰ residue¹¹. 细菌吞噬内部组织，留下一种糨糊状的有毒残渣，实际上把病人从里到处吃掉。

Patients often come in with comparatively mild complaints—a skin rash and fever typically—but then dramatically deteriorate¹². 起初，病人往往只是稍有不舒服——通常是身上出疹，皮肤发热——但接着就急剧恶化。

When they are opened up it is often found that they are simply being consumed. 打开一看，往往发现病人正被完全吃掉。

The only treatment is what is known as "radical¹³ excisional surgery"—cutting out every bit of infected area. 唯一的治疗办法是所谓的“彻底切除手术”——即把所有感染部位全部切除。

Seventy percent of victims die; many of the rest are left terribly disfigured. 70%的病人死亡，许多幸存者最后严重毁形。

The source of the infection is a mundane¹⁴ family of bacteria called Group A Streptococcus, which normally do no more than cause strep throat. 感染原是一种名叫A群链球菌的普通细菌家族，通常不过引起链球菌咽喉炎。

Very occasionally, for reasons unknown, some of these bacteria get through the lining¹⁵ of the throat and into the body proper, where they wreak¹⁶ the most devastating¹⁷ havoc. 在极少的情况下，由于不明原因，这类细菌有的会钻进咽喉壁里，进入人体本身，造成最严重的破坏作用。

They are completely resistant¹⁸ to antibiotics¹⁹. 它们完全能抵御抗生素。

About a thousand cases a year occur in the United States, and no one can say that it won't get worse. 这种情况美国每年发生大约1000例，谁也说不准情况是不是会变得更严重。

1 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

2 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

3 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

4 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

5 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

6 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

9 pulpy   

果肉状的，多汁的，柔软的； 烂糊； 稀烂

参考例句：

• The bean like seeds of this plant, enclosed within a pulpy fruit. 被包在肉质果实内的这种植物的豆样种子。
• Her body felt bruised, her lips pulpy and tender. 她的身体感觉碰伤了，她的嘴唇柔软娇嫩。

10 noxious   

adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• Heavy industry pollutes our rivers with noxious chemicals.重工业产生的有毒化学品会污染我们的河流。
• Many household products give off noxious fumes.很多家用产品散发有害气体。

11 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。

12 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

13 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

14 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。

15 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

16 wreak   

v.发泄；报复

参考例句：

• She had a burning desire to wreak revenge.她复仇心切。
• Timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle.怯懦的人总是把满腹牢骚向温和的人发泄。

17 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

18 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。

19 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。