評論
打印
News about Ebola, a viral disease that kills up to 90% of those it infects, is usually grim.
埃博拉是一種感染者死亡率高達90%的病毒性疾病，關于它的新聞通常都很嚴峻。
The latest Ebola outbreak, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has thus far killed nearly 1,900 people and rages on.
剛果民主共和國內最近爆發的埃博拉疫情，迄今已造成近1900人死亡，疫情仍在肆虐。
But on August 12th the grimness lifted somewhat with the announcement
但在8月12日，這種嚴峻的形勢有所緩解，
that two anti-Ebola treatments being tested in the country have proved effective.
有消息宣布該國正在測試的兩種抗埃博拉治療方法已證明有效。
If administered when the first signs of infection appear, they boost survival rates to about 90%.
如果在出現感染癥狀之初使用，可將存活率提高至約90%。
The treatments in question employ antibodies. These are special protein molecules made by the immune system in response to infection.
上述治療方法使用了抗體?？贵w是免疫系統對感染做出反應時產生的特殊蛋白質分子。
They work by locking onto specific parts of invading pathogens,
它們的工作原理是鎖定入侵病原體
or of body cells infected by those pathogens—either gumming the target up and disabling it
或被這些病原體感染的體細胞的特定部位—它們要么會把目標搞砸并使其失效
or marking it for destruction by other parts of the immune system.
要么是將其標記為免疫系統其他部分造成的破壞。
It is possible, however, to give the immune system a helping hand by identifying suitable antibodies in advance,
但也有可能給予免疫系統幫助：前提確認合適的抗體，
manufacturing them in bulk, and then injecting them into those infected by the pathogenic target.
批量生產，然后將它們注射到被致病性目標感染人群的體內。
One of the successful treatments, codenamed REGN-EB3,
其中一個成功的治療方法，代號為REGN-EB3，
is a cocktail of three such antibodies, mixed by Regeneron, an American biotechnology firm.
它是由三種抗體混合而成的混合物，由美國生物技術公司Regeneron制造而成。
The other, mAb114, is a single antibody developed by America's National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases.
另一個是mAb114，一種由美國國家過敏和傳染病研究所研發的單一抗體。
REGN-EB3 and mAb114 were among four experimental treatments tested in a randomised trial at clinics in Congo.
REGN-EB3和mAb114是剛果四種隨機實驗治療方法中的兩種。
Based on preliminary results from 500 patients, an oversight committee led by the World Health Organisation
根據500名患者的初步結果，由世界衛生組織領導的一個監督委員會
concluded that the trial should be stopped immediately, in order that the two successful treatments could be made available to everyone.
得出結論稱應立即停止試驗，以便讓每個人都能使用到這兩種成功的治療方法。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
