國家地理:Malaria 非洲抗瘧疾任重道遠

Carried by the female anopheles mosquito, malaria is a disease of the poor. In rural Africa, it is killing the young and the vulnerable. The need for a vaccine which would dramatically reduce mortality has never been greater. Dedicated teams of scientists all over the world at universities, at commercial laboratories, and in small front-line labs buried deep in malaria infested forests, search for answers to the malaria enigma.
One such laboratory is the Tropical Diseases Research Unit at Lambaréné in Gabon on the west coast of central Africa. The research unit is part of the famous hospital built on the banks of the Ogooué River in 1913 by Doctor Albert Schweitzer. Very much an outpost in the jungle, Lambaréné is on the forefront of malaria research. Its team includes people from Gabon, other African nations, Europe and the Middle East. And it's headed up by parasitology professor Peter Kermsner of the University of Tübingen in Germany.
“Malaria is a serious problem in the whole of the tropical world, especially in Africa, or here in Gabon. About 400 million cases are seen every year, and about one to two million, especially children in Africa, die because of malaria. We see around ten cases a day, sometimes twenty, thirty malaria cases a day. A year round we see 5000-8000 malaria cases in our unit.”
Staffers from the research unit regularly visit villages throughout Gabon, they also investigate ways to control the spread of malaria in these villages. When they find suspected cases, they bring the patient back to the Schweitzer hospital. But patients also find their own way here, sometimes from far away. The hospital treats thousands of Gabonese every year, saving lives and doing continuous research into the causes and prevention of malaria. An important part of Schweitzer’s village hospital concept is the accommodation of patients and their relatives. For about $ 13, a patient receives a package that includes a doctor's consultation, medical tests and medication.
Hospitalized patients may also bring along their family or friends. The pediatric ward is filled with children, 1/4 to 1/3 of them malaria cases. In the shadow of malaria's many fatalities, the doctors of the research unit sometimes take turns working around the clock and hoping that one day soon, a vaccine will be found.
參考中文翻譯：
瘧疾由雌性瘧蚊傳播，是窮人的疾病。在非洲的農村地區(qū)，瘧疾帶走了幼兒和弱者的生命。對于急劇降低死亡率的疫苗的需求非常大。來自世界各地大學，商業(yè)性實驗室和小的前沿實驗室的科學家們深入瘧疾密布的森林，研究瘧疾之謎的答案。
其中一個這樣的實驗室是位于非洲中部西海岸的加蓬的熱帶疾病研究中心。該研究中心是1912年由Albert Schweitzer醫(yī)生在Ogooué河岸創(chuàng)立的著名的醫(yī)院的一部分。Lambaréné位于叢林的前沿，所以該研究中心是瘧疾研究的最前線。該研究團隊的人員來自加蓬，其他非洲國家，歐洲和中東地區(qū)，由德國Tübingen大學的寄生蟲學教授Peter Kermsner 領導。
“瘧疾在整個熱帶地區(qū)，尤其是非洲和加蓬，是非常嚴重的問題。每年大約有4億個病例，非洲每年有一兩百萬兒童死于瘧疾。我們每天能看到大約10個病例，有時候每天有20甚至30個。我們中心每年見到5000至8000個瘧疾病人。”
該研究中心的采訪記者經常出入于加蓬的村莊，他們同時也會調查控制瘧疾在這些村莊之間傳播的方法。當他們發(fā)現疑似病例時，會將病人帶回Schweitzer醫(yī)院。但是病人在這里也找到了自己的方法。該醫(yī)院每年治療數千名加蓬人，拯救他們的生命，并且不斷的研究瘧疾的病因和防治方法。Schweitzer鄉(xiāng)村醫(yī)院理念的一個重要部分就是對病人和他們親屬的適應。大約花費13美元，病人就可以得到包括醫(yī)生咨詢，醫(yī)療測試和藥物在內的一系列服務。
就醫(yī)的病人也可以帶他們的家人或朋友一起來。兒科病房里住滿了孩子，四分之一到三分之一是瘧疾病人。在瘧疾儀器的影子下，研究中心的醫(yī)生經常輪班工作，希望有一天可以發(fā)現瘧疾疫苗。
單詞注解：
anopheles n. 瘧蚊
mosquito n. 蚊子
vulnerable a. 易受傷害的,有弱點的
mortality n. 必死的命運,死亡數目,死亡率
vaccine n. 疫苗
v. 疫苗的,牛痘的
infested v. 騷擾,群居于,大批出沒
pediatric a. 兒科的