VOA慢速英语:WHO: New Treatments Needed for Antibiotic-Resistant 'Superbugs'

The World Health Organization (WHO) has made an appeal to scientists, drug manufacturers and governments.
世界卫生组织最近对科学家、制药商以及政府发出呼吁。

The WHO wants them to work together to develop drugs to fight 12 bacteria. These bacteria are able to resist powerful antibiotic drugs. The resistance is so unusually strong all 12 have been given a special name: "superbug."
世卫组织希望他们能够通力合作，研制药物以抑制12种病菌。这些病菌可以抵抗强效的抗生素。介于这种抗药性非同寻常，这12种病菌被命名为一个特殊的名字：超级病菌。

The United Nations agency reported this week the 12 superbugs are a threat to human health. It said they have the ability to turn easily treatable infections into killers.
该联合国机构本周报告称，这12种病菌对人类健康造成威胁。报告称，它们能将原本轻易治疗的感染，转变为致命疾病。

A few examples are blood, lung and brain infections, food poisoning and gonorrhea, a disease spread by sexual activity.
例如血液、肺和大脑感染，食物中毒以及淋病，一种通过性行为传播的疾病。

The WHO says superbugs can also pass along genetic material that helps other bacteria become resistant to drug treatment.
世卫组织称，超级病菌可以通过基因物质遗传，使得其他病菌对药物治疗产生抗性。

Marie-Paule Kieny is the U.N. agency’s assistant director-general. She said "antibiotic resistance is growing and we are fast running out of treatment options." She urged governments to give drug companies reasons to develop new treatments.
玛丽-葆拉·基尼是世卫组织的助理总干事。她说“抗生素耐药性在快速发展，我们的治疗方法快穷尽了”。她敦促政府给予制药公司条件去研制新的治疗方法。

If we leave it to market forces alone, the new antibiotics we most urgently need are not going to be developed in time, she said.
“如果我们任由市场去分配，我们急需的新抗生素就不能及时被研制出来，”她说道。

Antibiotic drugs can lose their effectiveness when people take more or less of than the amount required by doctors. When this happens, infections that were at one time easily treated become resistant. Germs can also be spread in nature from air, water and animals.
人们摄取的抗生素药物比医生嘱咐的多或少都会使药物失去效用。一旦失去药效，曾经很容易治疗的感染，就会产生抗药性。细菌也可能通过空气、水和动物等在自然中传播。

I’m Jill Robbins.
吉尔·罗宾斯为您报道。