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One preliminary report indicates that such unpredictability may have made this year's flu shots a poorer match with the virus than in previous years -- but there isn't enough data yet to know if that's actually the case, explains Jason Newland, chief of infectious diseases at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio.
俄亥俄州全國兒童醫(yī)院的傳染病科主任杰森·紐蘭解釋說，一份初步報告顯示，這種不可預(yù)測性可能使得今年的流感疫苗與病毒的匹配度不如往年，但目前還沒有足夠的數(shù)據(jù)來確定實際情況是否如此。
"We do know that even in mismatched years or where the effectiveness isn't as good, we still get some protection against severe disease," he says.
他說：“我們確實知道，即使在疫苗與病毒不匹配的年份，或者疫苗有效性不那么好的年份，我們?nèi)匀荒塬@得一些對嚴重疾病的防護。”
Likely the biggest contributing factor behind this year's abnormally high number of flu cases is that many people aren't getting the vaccine at all.
今年流感病例異常增多的最大可能因素是，很多人根本沒有接種疫苗。
"Flu vaccination rates have declined, which is a major cause of the surge," says Elizabeth Mack, a physician and the head of the pediatric critical care unit at the Medical University of South Carolina's Children's Health.
南卡羅來納醫(yī)科大學(xué)兒童醫(yī)院的兒科重癥監(jiān)護病房主任、醫(yī)生伊麗莎白·麥克表示：“流感疫苗接種率下降了，這是病例激增的一個主要原因。”
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that as of February 1, 146.5 million doses of the vaccine were given in the country, while data from the same week last year shows 156.9 million people received the shot -- a 7 percent decline.
美國疾病控制與預(yù)防中心的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，截至2月1日，美國已接種了1.465億劑流感疫苗，而去年同期的數(shù)據(jù)顯示有1.569億人接種了流感疫苗，下降了7%。
"Flu vaccination rates are at their lowest level in years, with fewer than half of Americans currently immunized," says Nagata.
長田說：“流感疫苗接種率處于多年來的最低水平，目前只有不到一半的美國人接種了疫苗。”
And despite children under five being especially vulnerable to the worst outcomes of influenza, less than 46 percent of kids have received a flu vaccine this year, "which is lower than last year at this time, when we saw more than 50 percent," says Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
喬治·華盛頓大學(xué)米爾肯公共衛(wèi)生學(xué)院的急診醫(yī)生兼公共衛(wèi)生學(xué)教授莉安娜·溫表示，盡管5歲以下的兒童特別容易受到流感嚴重后果的影響，但今年只有不到46%的兒童接種了流感疫苗，“這比去年同期要低，去年同期我們看到接種率超過了50%” 。
Regardless of what's behind the current surge, "we know how to protect against influenza and how to treat it," says Newland.
紐蘭表示，不管當(dāng)前病例激增的原因是什么，“我們知道如何預(yù)防流感，也知道如何治療流感”。
One of our most basic preventative tools is good hygiene.
最基本的預(yù)防措施之一是保持良好的衛(wèi)生習(xí)慣。
"Everyone should wash their hands well with soap and water -- especially after touching commonly used surfaces," says Wen.
溫說：“每個人都應(yīng)該用肥皂和水好好洗手，尤其是在接觸了常用物品表面之后。”
She adds that particularly vulnerable people such as very young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and the immunocompromised should consider additional precautions such as wearing a high-quality face mask in indoor public spaces and avoiding crowded, poorly ventilated areas.
她補充說，特別容易感染的人群，如幼兒、孕婦、老年人和免疫力低下的人，應(yīng)該考慮采取額外的預(yù)防措施，比如在室內(nèi)公共場所佩戴高質(zhì)量的口罩，避免前往擁擠、通風(fēng)不良的場所。
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by getting enough sleep, eating nutritious foods, and staying active "can also strengthen your immune system and reduce your risk of infection," says Nagata.
長田說，保持健康的生活方式，保證充足的睡眠、食用有營養(yǎng)的食物并堅持鍛煉，“也可以增強你的免疫系統(tǒng)，降低感染的風(fēng)險”。
But the most surefire protection against the worst outcomes of the virus likely comes from getting the flu shot.
但預(yù)防感染流感病毒最可靠的方法可能是接種流感疫苗。
"That's why it's recommended that everyone six months of age and older get an annual influenza vaccine," says Mack.
麥克說：“這就是為什么建議所有6個月及以上的人每年都接種流感疫苗。”
Although it takes about seven to 10 days for protective antibodies to develop in the body after receiving the shot, because this flu season could last at least another month, getting vaccinated is still encouraged.
雖然接種疫苗后，身體大約需要7到10天才能產(chǎn)生保護性抗體，但由于這個流感季可能至少還會持續(xù)一個月，所以仍建議接種疫苗。
It's important to remember that getting the vaccine won't entirely stop you from getting the flu, but it will reduce its severity if you do get infected, "and can keep you out of the hospital, ICU, and prevent you from dying," says Schaffner. "It turns wild into mild."
重要的是要記住，接種疫苗并不能完全防止你感染流感，但如果你真的感染了，它會減輕癥狀的嚴重程度，沙夫納說：“它可以讓你避免住院、進入重癥監(jiān)護病房，還能防止你死亡。它能讓重癥變成輕癥。”
