VOA标准英语2010年-WHO Says New Vaccine Could Eradicate P

A new polio vaccine¹ gives hopes that the disease can be completely eradicated². Polio can cause severe deformities and paralysis³ in children. The number of polio cases worldwide has dropped by over 99 percent in recent years because of a global vaccination⁴ campaign started in the 1950s. But the disease still threatens children in at least four countries in Africa and South Asia. Now, clinical trials in two countries have confirmed the effectiveness of a new vaccine. And the World Health Organization says complete eradication⁵ of polio could be in sight. Tosin Agbabiaka contracted polio in his home town, Lagos, when he was three years old. He discovered he had artistic⁶ talents and started to paint holding the brush in his mouth. "Polio makes life as if I am a beggar. Every Saturday I bring out my paintings for people to see and people start giving me money. I don't like that. I hate it," he said.
The oral polio vaccine could have prevented him from getting the disease. Mass vaccinations⁷ against polio began in the 1950s. In developed nations, the disease was eradicated. But it still is problematic in some South Asian and African countries. Scientists say, in two countries where polio is endemic, the new so-called double strain vaccine has been 30 percent more effective than the traditional triple strain vaccine. Human trials in Nigeria and India showed that most babies who got the new vaccine, made by two pharmaceutical⁸ companies, developed immunity⁹ to the two virulent¹⁰ strains of polio. Dr. Peter Hotez is president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute in Washington DC. He says the new vaccine provides stronger immunity. "The idea behind the new vaccine is to make it more immunogenic, that is better able to stimulate¹¹ an immune response by concentrating just a number of strains that are in the new polio vaccine. So the traditional polio vaccine is sometimes called the trivalent vaccine. It has threetypes type 1 - type 2 type 3. This one, the new one, has only two types with higher concentration of virus," he said.
Polio mostly affects children under the age of five and spreads rapidly in areas of poor sanitation¹². It attacks the nervous system, sometimes causing irreversible paralysis. Dr. Hotez says eradicating¹³ polio has been more difficult than smallpox¹⁴, for example. "If you are infected with smallpox you have dramatic symptoms. The problem with polio is that with for every one patient who develops paralytic¹⁵ polio there are 100 others who have no symptoms. So that way, it becomes a much more difficult disease to contain and it means that we have to vaccinate¹⁶ large segments of population to protect everybody," he said.
Local resistance to vaccines¹⁷ for political and cultural reasons has complicated the problem. The 2003 ban in Nigeria on polio vaccines caused a dramatic spike¹⁸ in infections not only in Nigeria. The virus spread to several neighboring countries including some where polio had been eradicated.
The World Health Organization says in the coming days about 70 million children in 15 countries across Africa will be vaccinated¹⁹. Out of them, 55 million will get the new bivalent vaccine.
In some countries the virus has been more stubborn than others.
Dr. Peter Hotez said, "In the case of India, one of the thorny²⁰ problems that's prevented complete success is the fact that some populations don't manifest asrobust immune response to the oral polio vaccine as say if we were giving it in the United States, and that may be because of underlyingmalnutrition or underlying²¹ co-parasitic infection or diarrheal disease."But according to the WHO, polio cases in India and Nigeria dropped by more than 90 percent after trials with the new vaccine. It says this could mean that eradicating polio is in sight.

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 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

3 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

4 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

5 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

6 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

7 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

9 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

10 virulent   

adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的

参考例句：

• She is very virulent about her former employer.她对她过去的老板恨之入骨。
• I stood up for her despite the virulent criticism.尽管她遭到恶毒的批评，我还是维护她。

11 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

12 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

13 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

14 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

15 paralytic   

adj. 瘫痪的 n. 瘫痪病人

参考例句：

• She was completely paralytic last night.她昨天晚上喝得酩酊大醉。
• She rose and hobbled to me on her paralytic legs and kissed me.她站起来，拖着她那麻痹的双腿一瘸一拐地走到我身边，吻了吻我。

16 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

17 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。

18 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

19 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？

20 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

21 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。