您现在的位置是:首页 > 英语听力 > VOA英语听力下载|VOA news > voa标准英语|美国之音常速英语下载|在线收听
正文
VOA常速英语:Breakthrough for Australian Scientists Working on Malaria Vaccine
2010-01-21来源:和谐英语
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.
For decades, scientists around the world have hunted for a vaccine against malaria, which claims one million lives annually.
The mosquito-borne disease kills a child every 30 seconds, with communities in Africa most at risk.
Malaria is caused by a complex parasite that makes it hard to target with a vaccine.
Researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne say the disease has evolved to thwart the body's natural defenses.
Australian scientists at the institute, however, are optimistic that a vaccine can be created because people living in malaria hotspots eventually build up some immunity against the disease.
The institute has scoured the results of international studies to find antigens - substances that provoke an immune response in the body - that could be a potent weapon against malaria. They have found a protein produced by malaria parasites that does just that.
Dr. James Beeson says a successful vaccine would stimulate the body's defenses to stop the malaria parasite.
"The basis of the vaccine would be trying to speed up what the immune system does naturally in areas where malaria occurs," he noted. "You see children getting many episodes of malaria and gradually building up their immune response. What the vaccine would aim to do is achieve that in a much more rapid process rather than losing many people's lives and people experiencing a lot of illness before they develop immunity."
Researchers in Melbourne hope to isolate the most effective compounds for use in a potential vaccine.
While the researchers are encouraged by their findings so far, they caution that more clinical experiments are needed and a vaccine could be at least 10 years away.
The World Health Organization says malaria is both preventable and curable. About half of the world's population is at risk of the disease, particularly those living in poorer countries.
Most fatalities occur in sub-Saharan Africa, but parts of Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East are also affected.
相关文章
- VOA常速英语:日增20万确诊病例,印度疫情失控
- VOA常速英语:美国驱逐10名俄罗斯外交官
- VOA常速英语:US Marks One Year of Pandemic Shutdown with Hope, Concern
- VOA常速英语:US Senate Nears Vote on $1.9 Trillion Biden COVID Aid Package
- VOA常速英语:What Is Clubhouse and Why Did It Get So Popular?
- VOA常速英语:Thermal Water Helps Recovering COVID Patients
- VOA常速英语:Deadly Drug Overdoses Epidemic Rages On
- VOA常速英语:International Women’s Day Marks Year of Increased Hardships for Women Worldwide
- VOA常速英语:US States Relax Restrictions, Health Officials Warn Against It
- VOA常速英语:Virginia Starts Reopening Schools for In-Person Learning