HEALTH
REPORT - SARS Vaccine Moves Toward Testing
By Caty Weaver
This is Phoebe Zimmermman with the VOA Special
English Health Report.
Health officials say tests on people of a possible
vaccine（疫苗）to prevent SARS may begin early next year. SARS is
severe acute respiratory syndrome.
More than fifty SARS experts met this month in Geneva
at the headquarters of the World Health Organization. They came from
fifteen countries to discuss progress against the lung disease.
SARS began in southern China late last year. It spread
in Asia and other parts of the world. The W-H-O declared travel warnings.
Health officials worked aggressively. They kept SARS patients away from
others. They looked for anyone else those patients might have been near.
SARS was contained in the middle of this year. By
then, eight-thousand people had become sick. More than seven-hundred
of them died.
SARS causes effects similar to those of pneumonia
or influenza. People often cough. Breathing is difficult or painful.
Some people need machines to help them breathe. Body temperature goes
up. SARS can also make people feel tired, make their head hurt and make
them not want to eat. Most people with SARS, however, usually recover
within two weeks.
There will not be a vaccine in time if SARS returns
at the end of this year. But the experts at the meeting in Geneva praised
the progress made so far. They discussed work on experimental vaccines
against animal diseases caused by similar viruses.
SARS is caused by a coronavirus（冠状病毒）.
Other members of this family of viruses cause diseases in animals as
well as the common cold in people.
The W-H-O said the first test of an experimental SARS
vaccine on humans could happen as early as January. It says the vaccine
should be ready in four to five years, unless there is a large outbreak
of SARS. In that event, it says the development process may be shortened
to two years.
Doctor Marie-Paule Kieny is director of the W-H-O
Initiative for Vaccine Research. She said the process to develop a SARS
vaccine more quickly than usual will be very complex. It will require
continued international cooperation. But, she said, safety and quality
must never be compromised.
Until there is a vaccine, the W-H-O says health officials
must be ready to use the existing control measures that work, in case
SARS reappears.
This VOA Special English Health Report was written
by Caty Weaver. This is Phoebe Zimmermann.
万千英语族关于VOA Special English听力材料的特别说明：
- 本站收集整理、转载VOA Special English之音频及文本仅出于方便英语爱好者学习英语，练习听力之目的，不代表本站赞同VOA之任何观点。
- 新闻一般都有其倾向性，VOA做为境外站点，其新闻报导的倾向性必然带有其自身的目的，本站作为公益性英语学习站点，在收集资料时力求不损害国家和民族之利益，对于明显与主流媒体观点不一致的资料已经进行了删减，但是由于我们自身的局限性，可能对于个别篇章把握尺度不够严格，若您在使用这些听力资料时发现个别材料不合适，请与我们联系处理。更多信息，请点击关于我们链接获得。
- 本站VOA Special English音频资料为rm格式，需要安装RealPlayer 或 RealOne方可使用，关于RealPlayer下载、安装使用等问题，请访问其官方站点http://www.real.com/products/player。若您需要mp3格式文件，请下载RM格式文件后自行转换。
|
| 