VOA常速英语:英国科学家：耐药性疟疾病例是对“非洲的一个警示”

The four travelers were treated with a drug called Artemether-Lumefantrine after returning to Britain from different parts of Africa within a five-month period, showing symptoms of malaria.
这四名游客均接受了一种名为蒿甲醚加卤泛群的药物治疗，因为在五个月的时间内，四人从非洲不同地区返回英国之后，都表现出疟疾的症状。

The cases alerted scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
这些病例给伦敦卫生和热带医药学院的科学家们提了个醒。

“This drug is normally expected to cure someone after a three-day course and they are sent home once their blood films show that there is virtually no parasites left.And in each case, these patients seemed to have a clear blood film, or very close to a clear blood film,and were sent home with an apparent clean bill of health, only to return three to seven weeks later.”
“通常，经过为期三天的疗程之后，该药物能起到治愈疗效，一旦血涂片检查显示患者血液中不存在寄生虫，他们即可出院回家。在以往所有的病例中，出院之时，患者的血涂片似乎都很清晰或较为清晰，且会收到一份无疫健康证明书，但患者仍需三到七周后回去复查。”

The drug is part of a treatment known as Artemisinin Combination Therapy or A-C-T, widely used across Africa,where most malaria cases and deaths occur.These are among the first cases of apparent reduced susceptibility to the treatment, and doctors are urging vigilance.
“该药物是青蒿素联合疗法或A-C-T疗法的一部分，并被广泛用于非洲，因为大部分的疟疾和疟疾死亡病例都发生在这里。而上述四人是第一批对治疗敏感性显著降低的病例。医生如今也正在敦促外界要提高警惕。”

“If it’s under threat from resistance, and we haven’t absolutely ascertained that is the case but we suspect it’s certainly time now to look very carefully at that.If it is under threat, that is a serious issue and we need to take steps.”
“如果面临耐药性的威胁，当然我们还没有确定情况是否真的如此，但我们现在觉得，如今是时候仔细对这方面进行研究了。一旦真的产生耐药，那这就是一个非常严重的问题，我们得马上采取措施。”

Such steps might involve using other drugs alongside A-C-T, but such a change of strategy takes time.
这些措施可能包括，除了使用A-C-T疗法之外，还要施以其他药物。但是这种策略上的改变仍需要时日。

“Of course a lot of malaria is in the countryside, it is in district hospitals and bush clinics.You cannot just say, ‘Let us try a different drug,’ if it is not available at the time, so that requires planning and forethought.”
“当然，农村、地区医院和偏远诊所是疟疾高发地区。如果当时没有可用药物，你就不能只是说，‘我们来试一种不同的药吧。’因此改变策略还需要提前计划和谋算。”

Resistance to A-C-T drugs is an ongoing problem in parts of Southeast Asia.But the resistance shown by the malaria parasites in these four cases is unrelated.
在东南亚部分地区，对A-C-T药物产生耐药性是一个持续存在的问题。但在上述四个病例中，疟疾寄生虫所产生的抗药性是与之无关的。

“Whatever it is that is happening in Africa,these four patients don’t represent the kind of resistance that has become really a quite serious problem in Southeast Asia.”
“不管如今非洲正在发生什么，这四位病人所代表的耐药种类与东南亚的耐药种类是不同的，尽管疟疾耐药在东南亚已经演变成了一个非常严重的问题。”

Chinese scientist Professor Youyou Tu won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery of Artemisinin as a treatment for malaria.Its widespread use has contributed to a 30 percent fall in malaria deaths worldwide between 2010 and 2015.
中国科学家屠呦呦教授获得了2015年诺贝尔医学奖，以表彰她用青蒿素治疗疟疾的重大发现。经过广泛推广使用，2010年到2015年间全世界疟疾死亡人数下降了30%。

Scientists say the latest cases of apparent resistance are a warning, and should be investigated further.
科学家们表示，近来十分明显的耐药病例是一个警告，提醒人们应该进一步展开调查。

Henry Ridgwell, for VOA news, London.
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