2006年VOA标准英语-US Public Health Workers May Not Work in F

By David McAlary
Washington
18 April 2006

Nurses are in short supply throughtout the United States   
  
A new study shows that Americans might not be able to count on public health workers, if an influenza¹ pandemic strikes. Researchers find that nearly half of public health employees would be unlikely to work during a major flu outbreak.

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The Bush administration is preparing a national plan to respond to a pandemic, if bird flu adapts to human transmission, but the study indicates that public health workers might confound the arrangements.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel interviewed more than 300 public health workers in three counties in the mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Maryland. They chose these counties because they are comparable in size to those served by the vast majority of the nation's public health departments.

Johns Hopkins physician Daniel Barnett gives the startling main finding:

"Forty-six-point-two percent of the workers surveyed stated they are unlikely to report to duty during an influenza pandemic," he said. "That is almost half of the public health workforce²."

Barnett says only one-third of those surveyed even felt knowledgeable³ about the public health impacts of a flu pandemic.

The findings are similar to a larger survey done last year among 6,200 New York City public health employees, half of whom said they would be unwilling⁴ to report to work during an untreatable infectious disease outbreak.

A breakdown⁵ of the data in the Maryland study shows that doctors and nurses were more likely to say they would report to work, while technical and support staff, such as clerical workers, were the least likely. Barnett says this is because technical and support personnel do not perceive themselves as important as clinical staff, but he says their perception is wrong.

"This is critical, because people who answer telephones, people who perform the basic computer technician activities, for example, in health departments, are really the glue that will keep the public health infrastructure⁶ running during an influenza pandemic," emphasized Barnett.

The researchers say current U.S. pandemic preparedness plans take into account some health personnel shortages, due to illness from influenza, but Barnett says public health workers are clearly not prepared for a crisis.

"I think, we need to reassess how we are doing training for public health workers in the United States, addressing willingness to respond as a variable in our curricula, not just knowledge and skills," he said. "We cannot assume that, just because we are training people in skill sets, that they will take those skill sets and willingly apply them."

Barnett's study appears in the April issue of the journal BMC Public Health.

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 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

3 knowledgeable   

adj.知识渊博的；有见识的

参考例句：

• He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
• He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。

4 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

5 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。