WHO Working to Stave Off 1)Meningitis Outbreak in Africa

Broadcast: Feb 07, 2003

 

The World Health Organization said is about to ship millions of ²⁾doses of a new meningitis vaccine¹ to almost two dozen countries in Africa. The vaccine was developed in record time to tackle a deadlier strain of the potential faced disease.

Officials of the World Health Organization say they will soon begin sending three million doses of the meningitis vaccine to 21 African countries. All the countries are part of the so-called meningitis belt, which stretches from Senegal to Ethiopia.

The health organization says the first shipment, made up of 100,000 doses, is being sent to Burkina Faso. That is where an epidemic² of the new, deadlier strain of meningitis, known as W-135, has been detected.

WHO officials say almost 1,400 cases of the new disease have been confirmed in Burkina Faso, and so far 244 people have died.

Chris Nelson, a scientist at the World Health Organization, said there is no doubt Burkina Faso is in the grips of a meningitis epidemic. "We have known for maybe one week that, perhaps, something is going to happen in Burkina, and, as a result, we worked harder to get the vaccines³ staged, so we can ship them, if necessary," he said. "We worked hard to make sure the [systems] to keep the case fatality⁴ rates down has been in place. We worked hard, actually since November, to make sure the ³⁾surveillance systems are strengthened and to make sure the correct personnel are in place."

Meningitis is a ⁴⁾bacterial⁵ disease that mostly affects children. It can cause serious ⁵⁾neurological damage, deafness, coma⁶ and death. Without proper treatment, many of its victims will die.

The new strain of meningitis appeared for the first time in Africa last year. In Burkina Faso alone, nearly 15,000 people were infected and more than 1,700 died.

The new vaccine was developed by the British drug firm GlaxoSmithKline. It costs $1.50 a dose, which is much cheaper than the vaccine that was previously⁷ used, which could cost as much as $50 a dose.

Lisa Schlein for VOA news, Geneva.

 

1)    meningitis[7menin5dVaitis]n.[医]脑膜炎

2)    dose[dEus] n.剂量, (一)剂, (一)服v.(给...)服药

3)    surveillance[sE:5veilEns]n.监视, 监督

4)    bacterial [bAk`tIErIEl]adj.细菌的

5)    neurological[njuErEu5lCdVikEl]adj.神经学上的

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

5 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。

6 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

7 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。