VOA慢速英語：實驗性的Zika疫苗開始臨床試驗

Experimental Zika Vaccine Clinical Testing Begins

實驗性的Zika疫苗開始臨床試驗

The United States government has begun the first clinical testing of an experimental vaccine designed to guard against Zika virus.

美國政府已經對旨在防御Zika病毒的實驗性疫苗進行臨床試驗。

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases made the announcement earlier this week.

本周，國家過敏癥和傳染病研究所宣布了該消息。

The experimental vaccine has already been tested in animals.

這種實驗性疫苗已經在動物中進行了測試。

Anthony Fauci, the institute’s director, said on Wednesday that investigators should know soon whether the vaccine is safe for use in human beings. He said the first human tests involve 40 human volunteers in the U.S.

本周三，安托尼.福奇，該研究所主任說：研究人員應該會很快清楚疫苗對于人類是否安全。首次人體試驗包含了40名人類自愿者。

“If we get a good immune response and there are no safety red flags by the end of December 2016, we should know if it’s okay to move on to phase II.” He said the second phase could begin early next year.

“如果取得了良好的免疫反應，并且如果在2016年11月底之前沒有出現(xiàn)危險信號，我們應該肯定疫苗是安全的，可以進行第二步。”他說：第二步預期明天年初開始。

Those trials will be larger studies, involving more volunteers. They would be performed in countries where Zika has spread. There, researchers would look not only at the safety of the experimental vaccine, but its effectiveness in fighting infection.

這些試驗將會是巨大的研究課題，它需要大量的志愿者。這些試驗需要在Zika病毒傳播的國家進行實驗。在那，研究人員不僅可以觀察到實驗性疫苗的安全性，同樣可以觀察到其對抗感染的效果。

Infected mosquitoes can pass the virus to people. It can also be passed through sexual contact.

感染的蚊蟲可以將病毒傳染給人類。Zika病毒也可以通過性接觸傳播。

Zika usually causes minor problems in healthy people. But there is a real danger if an infected insect bites a pregnant woman. The infection could spread to the fetus she is carrying.

Zika通常會導致微小的健康問題。但是，如果感染病毒的昆蟲叮咬了孕婦卻是十分危險的。病毒會傳播給她的胎兒。

If infected with the virus, women can give birth to babies with a severe condition known as microcephaly. The heads and brains of those babies are unusually small. Microcephaly can cause many mental and physical problems and even death.

如果感染了該Zika病毒，媽媽會生出頭小畸形的嬰兒。這樣的嬰兒的孩子的頭部和大腦異常之小。頭小畸形能夠導致許多身心問題，甚至導致嬰兒死亡。

At first, the vaccine’s main target will be women of the age when many women give birth. Researchers would also be looking to prevent the disease in the general adult population.

首先，疫苗的主要目標人群是適齡的適育婦女。研究人員也期望能夠使普通人遠離Zika病毒。

New technique

新技術

The vaccine was developed with a relatively new technology. It was scientifically engineered to contain a small piece of DNA from the virus. DNA is short for deoxyribonucleic acid, which contains the biological commands for Zika. The piece is so small that it is not infectious. But it is big enough to produce a reaction from the body’s natural defenses for fighting disease.

疫苗采用了一種相對較新的技術開發(fā)。該技術經過科學的設計，將一小塊含有該病毒的DNA納入疫苗。DNA是脫氧核糖核酸的簡寫，其中包括了Zika的生物指令。這一小塊DNA太小了以至于它不具傳染性。但是這一小塊DNA卻又是足夠大，能夠使人類的自然免疫系統(tǒng)產生反應。

Fauci said the DNA method makes it easy to provide the vaccine quickly. “We cannot afford to delay the development of a safe and effective vaccine to prevent Zika virus infection,” he added.

福奇說：DNA技術讓快速生產疫苗變得簡單。他補充說：“我們不能夠拖延這種安全有效的疫苗開發(fā)，以防治Zika病毒”

Zika infections have been reported in 50 countries and territories. Most cases are in Central and South America and the Caribbean. This week, U.S. officials announced that a number of people in the state of Florida have been infected. They said all the infections resulted from infected mosquitoes.

據(jù)報道，Zika病毒已經在近50個國家傳播。大部分發(fā)生在美國中部和南部以及加勒比海流域。本周，美國官方發(fā)表聲明：佛羅里達州的許多人已經感染了Zika病毒。他們說：所有的Zika病毒感染都是由被感染的蚊蟲導致的。

I’m Anne Ball.

安妮.鮑爾報道.