万物简史 第451期:小生物的世界(22)

 Soon one of these new strains, called Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, began to show up in hospitals. 过不多久，一种名叫抗甲氧苯青霉素葡萄球菌的新品种葡萄球菌开始在医院里出现。

Only one type of antibiotic¹, vancomycin, remained effective against it, 只有一种抗生素：万古霉素，用来对付它还有效果。

but in 1997 a hospital in Tokyo reported the appearance of a strain that could resist even that. 但1997年东京有一家医院报告说，葡萄球菌出现了一个新品种，对那种药也有抗药性。

Within months it had spread to six other Japanese hospitals. 不出几个月，那种葡萄球菌已经传播到6家别的日本医院。

All over, the microbes are beginning to win the war again: 在世界各地，微生物又开始赢得了这场战争的胜利：

in U.S. hospitals alone, some fourteen thousand people a year die from infections they pick up there. 光在美国的医院里，每年大约有14000人死于当地感染的传染病。

As James Surowiecki has noted², 詹姆斯·苏罗威基在《纽约客》杂志的一篇文章里指出，

given a choice between developing antibiotics³ that people will take every day for two weeks or antidepressants that people will take every day forever, 要是让制药公司在研制每天都服、连服两周的抗生素和永远每天都服的抗抑郁药之间作出选择，

drug companies not surprisingly opt⁴ for the latter. 制药公司会选择后者，这是不足为怪的。

Although a few antibiotics have been toughened up a bit, the pharmaceutical⁵ industry hasn't given us an entirely⁶ new antibiotic since the 1970s. 虽然有几种抗生素被强化了一点，但自20世纪70年代以来，制药工业还没有向我们提供过一种全新的抗生素。

Our carelessness is all the more alarming since the discovery that many other ailments⁷ may be bacterial⁸ in origin. 我们发现，许多别的疾病很可能是由细菌引起的，因此我们的马虎草率态度更是显得令人吃惊。

The process of discovery began in 1983 when Barry Marshall, a doctor in Perth, Western Australia, 这个发现过程始于1983年。当时，西澳大利亚州珀斯的巴里·马歇尔医生发现，

found that many stomach cancers and most stomach ulcers⁹ are caused by a bacterium¹⁰ called Helicobacter pylori. 许多胃癌和大多数胃溃疡为一种名叫幽门螺旋杆菌的细菌所致。

Even though his findings were easily tested, the notion was so radical¹¹ that more than a decade would pass before they were generally accepted. 虽然他的发现结果很容易得到鉴定，但那种观点如此激进，过了10多年才被大家接受。

America's National Institutes of Health, for instance, didn't officially endorse¹² the idea until 1994. 例如，美国国家卫生研究所到了1994年才正式接受那种看法。

"Hundreds, even thousands of people must have died from ulcers who wouldn't have," Marshall told a reporter from Forbes in 1999. “成千甚至成万的人可能死于溃疡，而他们本来是不会死的。”马歇尔1999年对《福布斯》杂志的一名记者说。

1 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 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。

4 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？

5 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

6 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。

7 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

8 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。

9 ulcers   

n.溃疡( ulcer的名词复数 )；腐烂物；道德败坏；腐败

参考例句：

• Detachment of the dead cells produces erosions and ulcers. 死亡细胞的脱落，产生糜烂和溃疡。 来自辞典例句
• 75% of postbulbar ulcers occur proximal to the duodenal papilla. 75％的球后溃疡发生在十二指肠乳头近侧。 来自辞典例句

10 bacterium   

n.(pl.)bacteria 细菌

参考例句：

• The bacterium possibly goes in the human body by the mouth.细菌可能通过口进入人体。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。

11 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。

12 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。