HEALTH REPORT - Study Increases Estimate of Flu Hospitalizat

HEALTH REPORT - Study Increases Estimate of Flu Hospitalizations in the United States
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, September 22, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Influenza¹ can be life-threatening, especially for the very old or the very young. In the United States, a new study raises the estimate of how many people require hospital care related to the flu. Most cases of influenza in the United States usually happen from November until about April, during the colder months.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did they study. They looked at hospital records from the flu seasons between nineteen seventy-nine and two thousand-one. They counted flu-related hospitalizations. Doctor William Thompson led the research.

They found that more than two hundred thousand people are hospitalized each year because of the flu. That is almost two times as many as earlier estimates by the C.D.C.

The researchers say one major reason for the increase is the aging of the population. The number of Americans age eighty-five and older more than doubled in the last thirty years.

Also, the study included the years in the late nineteen nineties when there were more cases of severe forms of the flu. And the researchers noted² a third reason for the higher number of hospitalizations they found. They considered a greater number of flu-related sicknesses to reach the new estimate. The report appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The highest rates of influenza-related hospitalizations were among people eighty-five and older. The study found that the risk of hospitalizations increased with age starting at fifty. Those least affected³ were between five and forty-nine years old. Children younger than five had rates similar to those among people fifty to sixty-four.

Influenza is a respiratory illness. It attacks the nose, throat and lungs. It causes a high body temperature and muscle aches and makes people feel very tired. It also causes a dry cough and sore throat. The virus spreads through the air when infected people cough or sneeze.

The C.D.C. says most people who get the flu will recover in a week or two. But some people develop life-threatening conditions like pneumonia⁴.

In the United States, health officials say an average of about thirty-six thousand people each year die from influenza. They say the best way to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated⁵ each fall before flu season begins.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Gwen Outen.

1 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

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 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

5 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？