VOA慢速英语2012 Health Report - Refugee Camps are a Breeding Ground for Disease

 

Health Report - Refugee Camps are a Breeding Ground for Disease

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

United Nations aid agencies say hundreds of thousands of refugees are living in unacceptable conditions at camps. These people fled their homes because of violence in the Middle East and Africa. The U.N. agencies are blaming serious food and water problems at many refugee camps for the spread of life-threatening diseases.

Officials say cholera¹, malaria² and jaundice -- combined with malnutrition³ -- are threatening refugees who had hoped to be safe after they entered the camps.

There are thousands of people at one camp in South Sudan. They fled there to escape the military conflict in the area. Camp officials have reported cases of hepatitis E: a viral disease spread through contaminated food and water.

U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says most of those infected are young people.

ADRIAN EDWARDS: "Hepatitis E hits young people between the ages of fifteen and forty hardest. In the three camps where we see refugees with acute jaundice syndrome⁴, more than half are between twenty and thirty-nine."

United Nations relief agencies report that serious food and water problems are turning many refugee camps in the Middle East and Africa into breeding grounds for a range of life-threatening diseases. 

Camps in countries like South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Libya, and Nigeria have reported severe cases of cholera. Officials say keeping cholera and jaundice from spreading is very difficult. They believe the best way to deal with these infections is to prevent them.

Dr. Peter Hotez is an infectious disease expert. He says cholera often threatens people living in extreme conditions.

PETER HOTEZ: "The vibrio cholerae bacillus produces a toxin⁵, and this toxin has the ability to poison cells in such a way that you can no longer absorb water so you can become just a shriveled, desiccated individual just a few hours after infection."

UNICEF estimates that nearly four hundred thousand African children under five will need treatment for severe malnutrition this year. These children are at greater risk of cholera and other diseases.

UNICEF-supported health clinics in many camps are providing tablets to purify water. And they are trying to teach displaced families how to stay healthy.

Dr. Hotez says cholera, for example, can be prevented with sanitary⁶ living conditions. But once diarrhea develops, he says, oral rehydration treatment may be the only way to save a child's life.

Pillar Bauza is with the UN refugee agency. She works with children in refugee camps across Africa.

PILLAR BAUZA: "We have high rates of mortality, above the emergency threshold plus high rates of malnutrition."

Refugee camps along the border between Syria and Turkey have reported cases of cholera and malaria. Experts warn that other bacterial⁷, viral and parasitic⁸ diseases could become deadly epidemics⁹ in crowded camps. Dirty conditions are common in the camps, while safe food and drinking water are hard to find.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. For more health news, go to www.voanews.cn. You can read and listen to stories and learn American English. I'm Milagros Ardin.

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Contributing: Vidushi Sinha

1 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

2 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

3 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

4 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

5 toxin   

n.毒素，毒质

参考例句：

• Experts have linked this condition to a build-up of toxins in the body.专家已把这一病症与体内毒素的积累联系起来。
• Tests showed increased levels of toxin in shellfish.检验表明水生有壳动物的毒素水平提高了。

6 sanitary   

adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的

参考例句：

• It's not sanitary to let flies come near food.让苍蝇接近食物是不卫生的。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

7 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。

8 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

9 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。