VOA慢速英语2010年-Health Report - Needle Injuries to Med

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

For medical students, real experience begins not in a classroom but at a teaching hospital. These doctors in training are supervised¹. But sometimes accidents happen and the students get injured.

For example, they might stick themselves with a needle while treating patients. Such needle sticks are common. But a recent study found that medical students often fail to report them. Failing to report an injury like this can be dangerous if a patient, or a medical worker, has an infectious² disease.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, did the study. It appeared in the journal Academic Medicine.

It involved a survey answered by almost seven hundred surgeons in training. These surgical³ residents were at seventeen medical centers in the United States.

Almost sixty percent said they had suffered needle stick injuries when they were in medical school. Many said they were stuck more than once.

Yet nearly half of those whose most recent incident happened in school did not report it to an employee health office. If they had, they would have been tested to see if they needed treatment to prevent an infection like H.I.V. or hepatitis.

Most known cases of H.I.V. or hepatitis are reported, but other possible infections often are not.Martin Makary was the lead author of the study. Doctor Makary says medical students who are stuck put themselves and others in danger from infectious diseases.

MARTIN MAKARY: "A needle that goes through the skin needs to be as sharp as possible because that's going to be associated with the easiest access, the more slick closure, and the less pain when somebody has, say their blood drawn⁴ or their skin closed."

Doctors in training may have to do hundreds of stitches⁵ in some cases to close the skin after an operation.

Doctor Makary told VOA's Melinda Smith that he supports using blunt⁶ tip needles which are considered safer.

MARTIN MAKARY: "This needle is still sharp enough to penetrate⁷ through body tissue. But it does have a blunt tip, so that if it accidentally goes into my finger, it's much less likely to perforate."

How common are needle sticks among health care workers? An estimated six hundred to eight hundred thousand of these and similar injuries are reported each year in the United States. But Doctor Makary says the real number may be much higher.

The study advises doctors to protect their hands by wearing two sets of gloves. It also urges hospitals to establish a special telephone number for medical workers and students to call if they are injured. The idea is for hospitals to send a clear message that there is no reason not to report this kind of accident.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Steve Ember.
 

1 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

2 infectious   

adj.传染的，有传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
• What an infectious laugh she has!她的笑声多么具有感染力啊！

3 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 stitches   

n.（缝纫或编织中的）一针( stitch的名词复数 )；缝法；衣服；（缝合伤口的）缝线v.缝，缝补，缝合( stitch的第三人称单数 )；[引申]把某物连在一起

参考例句：

• Try to keep the stitches small and straight. 针脚要尽量缝得小而直。
• Knit the next two stitches together to make the garment narrower. 下两针织在一起，把衣服弄瘦点儿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 blunt   

adj.（刀子）钝的，不锋利的，迟钝的，直率的

参考例句：

• The axe is too blunt to cut down the tree.斧头太钝，砍不倒树。
• She is rather blunt in speech.她说话很直率。

7 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。