新奇事件簿 警惕生命杀手败血症

Everyone knows the names of big killers¹ like cancer, heart disease and stroke, but few people are aware of one of the biggest killers - sepsis. Sepsis is a life-threatening condition. Doctors say it is responsible for one in five deaths worldwide. Sepsis happens when our body's response to an infection injures our own organs. Our body normally releases chemicals into the blood to fight an infection. Sepsis occurs when the body releases too many of these chemicals. The chemicals overload² our organs and damage them. This damage can lead to organ failure and death. Doctors have traditionally called this blood poisoning. More than half of the sepsis cases reported worldwide occur in children, many of whom are newborn babies.

每个人都知道癌症、心脏病和中风这些生命杀手，但是很少有人意识到败血症也是最大杀手之一。败血症是一种威胁生命的疾病。医生表示全球五分之一的人死于败血症。当我们的身体对感染的反应损害了我们自己的器官时，就会患上败血症。我们的身体通常会向血液中释放化学物质来抵抗感染。当身体释放的这类化学物质太多时，就会出现败血症。这些化学物质会使我们的器官超负荷并损害它们。这种损伤可以导致器官衰竭和死亡。医生们传统上把这称为血液中毒。据报道全球一半以上的败血症患者为儿童，其中很多是新生儿。

A study into sepsis was published on January the 16th in the medical journal "The Lancet". Researchers estimated that over 50 million people a year develop sepsis and over 20 per cent die from the illness. This is more than double the percentage previously³ estimated. The researchers said sepsis kills more people than cancer. Professor Mohsen Naghavi, a senior author of the research, said: "We are alarmed to find sepsis deaths are much higher than previously estimated, especially as the condition is both preventable and treatable." He said more research is needed to stop sepsis killing⁴ newborns. Doctors can treat sepsis with antibiotics⁵ if the condition is found early.

一项关于败血症的研究于1月16日发表于医学杂志《柳叶刀》。研究人员估计每年有超过5000万人患上败血症，超过20%的人死于这种疾病。这是之前估计的两倍多。研究人员表示败血症比癌症更容易导致死亡。该研究的一名高级作者Mohsen Naghavi教授说到：“我们震惊地发现败血症死亡人数远远高于先前的估计，尤其是这种疾病还是可防可治的。”他表示需要进行更多的研究才能阻止败血症杀害新生儿。如果发现及时，医生可以用抗生素治疗败血症。

1 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

2 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 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。