预防脑膜炎(1)【沪江慢速VOA080326】
Vaccine a Big Success Against Meningitis in Uganda (1/2)
Meningitis is an infection of the tissue that covers the brain and spinal cord. Both bacteria and viruses can cause it. Viral meningitis is the more common form, but bacterial meningitis is more dangerous.
Each year, almost four hundred thousand children under the age of five die from meningitis caused by a bacterium known as Hib. Millions more suffer hearing loss, brain damage or other disabilities as a result of the disease.
Hib, or Haemophilus influenzae type b, requires intensive treatment with antibiotics. But most of the children are poor and live in developing countries. Hib vaccines for babies have been available since nineteen ninety-one. But for most of that time, their use was limited to industrial countries, mostly because of cost.
Uganda began widespread child vaccinations against Hib in two thousand two. Now, a study has found that in areas where cases were counted, the disease rate fell by eighty-five percent in the first four years. Then it fell to zero in two thousand six.
参考译文：
脑膜炎是一种覆盖大脑和脊髓的组织被感染的疾病。细菌和病毒都可以导致脑膜炎。病毒型脑膜炎更常见，而细菌型脑膜炎则比较危险。
每年，大约40万5岁以下的儿童死于由Hib引起的细菌性脑膜炎。成百万的儿童因为患有脑膜炎而遭受如听力损失，大脑损伤或其它残疾。
Hib即b型流感嗜血杆菌，需要进行强化的抗生素治疗。但是多数的儿童很贫困，生活在发展中国家。针对婴儿的Hib疫苗1991年已问世。但多数时候, 主要由于成本（高）的原因，这些疫苗仅限于工业国家使用。
2002年，乌干达开始广泛接种抗Hib的儿童疫苗。现在，一项研究发现在对发病计数的地区，(用了疫苗后的)头四年发病率就下降了85%,到2006年就（彻底）消除了。
TAG: voa,voa下载,voa慢速英语,voa英语,voa news,voa english,voa special,voa听力,美国之音
