‘Miraculous’ mosquito hack cuts Dengue by 77%

Friday, June 11, 2021 - 01:00

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 Dengue fever cases have been cut by 77% in a "groundbreaking" trial that manipulates the mosquitoes that spread it, say scientists.

科学家说，在一项控制传染登革热蚊子的“突破性”试验中，登革热病例减少了77%。

Dengue  n. /ˈdeŋɡi/ ("ˈDengue fever", "ˈbreakbone fever") 登革热（由蚊子传播的热带疾病，症状为发烧和关节剧痛）

groundbreaking  adj. /ˈɡraʊndbreɪkɪŋ/开创性的；创新的；革新的 • a groundbreaking piece of research 富有开拓性的研究

They used mosquitoes infected with "miraculous" bacteria that reduce the insect's ability to spread Dengue.The trial took place in Yogyakarta city, Indonesia, and is being expanded in the hope of eradicating the virus.

他们使蚊子感染一种“神奇”的细菌，这种细菌能降低蚊子传播登革热的能力。该试验在印度尼西亚日惹市进行，并正在扩大，以期根除该病毒。

Yogyakarta city：日惹市（印度尼西亚）

eradicate  v. /ɪˈrædɪkeɪt/ ~ sth (from sth) 根除；消灭；杜绝 • Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。

The World Mosquito Programme team says it could be a solution to a virus that has gone around the world.Few people had heard of Dengue 50 years ago, but it has been a relentless slow-burning pandemic and cases have increased dramatically.In 1970, only nine countries had faced severe Dengue outbreaks, now there are up to 400 million infections a year. Dengue is commonly known as "break-bone fever" because it causes severe pain in muscles and bones and explosive outbreaks can overwhelm hospitals.

世界蚊子项目小组表示，这可能是一种解决已经传播到世界各地的病毒的方法。50年前，很少有人听说过登革热，但它一直是一种持续不断、缓慢蔓延的流行病，病例数量急剧增加。1970年，只有9个国家面临严重的登革热疫情，现在每年有多达4亿人感染。登革热通常被称为“断骨热”，因为它会引起肌肉和骨骼的剧烈疼痛，暴发疫情可能会让医院不堪重负。

relentless  adj. /rɪˈlentləs/ 1.不停的；持续强烈的；不减弱的 •her relentless pursuit of perfection 她对完美的不懈追求；2.不放弃的；严格的；苛刻的；无情的 •a relentless enemy 残酷的敌人

The trial used mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria. One of the researchers, Dr Katie Anders, describes them as "naturally miraculous". Wolbachia doesn't harm the mosquito, but it camps out in the same parts of its body that the Dengue virus needs to get into.

该试验使用了感染沃尔巴克氏菌的蚊子。其中一名研究人员，凯蒂·安德斯博士将它们描述为“自然奇迹”。沃尔巴克氏体不会伤害蚊子，但它在登革热病毒需要进入的蚊子身体的相同部位栖息。

Wolbachia /'wɔlbəkiə/ n. [微] 沃尔巴克氏体属

The bacteria compete for resources and make it much harder for Dengue virus to replicate, so the mosquito is less likely to cause an infection when it bites again. 

这些细菌争夺资源，使登革热病毒在蚊子体内更难复制，因此蚊子再次叮咬时不太可能引起感染。

The trial used five million mosquito eggs infected with Wolbachia. Eggs were placed in buckets of water in the city every two weeks and the process of building up an infected population of mosquitoes took nine months.

该试验使用了感染沃尔巴克氏菌的500万个蚊子卵。蚊子卵每两周被放置在城市的水桶中，建立受感染的蚊子种群的过程需要9个月。

Yogyakarta was split into 24 zones and the mosquitoes were released only in half of them.

日惹被分成24个区域，只有一半的区域释放了蚊子。

The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed a 77% reduction in cases and an 86% reduction in people needing hospital care when the insects were released.

研究结果发表在《新英格兰医学杂志》(New England Journal of Medicine)上，显示，释放这些蚊虫后，病例减少了77%，需要住院治疗的人数减少了86%。

"It's very exciting, it's better than we could have hoped for to be honest," Dr Anders told the BBC.

安德斯博士告诉BBC：“实话实说，这非常令人兴奋，比我们原本希望的要好。”

The technique has been so successful the mosquitoes have been released across the whole city and the project is moving to surrounding areas with the aim of eradicating Dengue in the region.

这项技术非常成功，蚊子已经被释放到整个城市，该项目正在转移到周边地区，目的是根除该地区的登革热。

Dr Anders, who is also the director of impact assessment at the World Mosquito Programme, said: "This result is groundbreaking."We think it can have an even greater impact when it is deployed at scale in large cities around the world, where Dengue is a huge public health problem."

安德斯博士同时也是世界蚊子项目影响评估主任，他说:“这一结果是开创性的。”我们认为，在登革热是巨大公共卫生问题的世界大城市大规模实施时，它会产生更大的影响。”

Wolbachia are also spectacularly manipulative and can alter the fertility of their hosts to ensure they are passed on to the next generation of mosquitoes.

沃尔巴克氏菌还具有引人注目的操控性，可以改变宿主的繁殖能力，以确保它们能传递给下一代蚊子。

It means once Wolbachia has been established, it should stick around for a long time and continue to protect against Dengue infection.This is in sharp contrast to other control methods - such as insecticides or releasing large numbers of sterile male mosquitoes - that need to be kept up in order to suppress the blood-suckers.

这意味着一旦沃尔巴克氏菌被建立起来，它应该会存在很长一段时间，并继续预防登革热感染。这与其他控制方法形成了鲜明对比——例如杀虫剂或释放大量不育雄性蚊子——这些方法需要不断实施以抑制蚊子生长。

insecticide n. /ɪnˈsektɪsaɪd/杀虫剂；杀虫药

Sterile  adj. /ˈsteraɪl/  

1. (人或动物) 不能生育的；不育的；2. 无菌的；消过毒的 •sterile bandages 消毒绷带；3.(讨论、争论等) 无结果的；没有实际价值的 • a sterile debate 没有结果的辩论；4. 刻板的；无个性的；缺乏新意的 •The room felt cold and sterile. 那房间让人觉得阴冷而没有生气。5.(土地) 贫瘠的

(BBC)

原文链接：http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/06/11/world/251330/%E2%80%98miraculous%E2%80%99-mosquito-hack-cuts-Dengue-77