剛果科學(xué)家離埃博拉病毒治療又近了一步

剛果科學(xué)家離埃博拉病毒治療又近了一步

Two new Ebola treatments are proving so effective they are being offered to all patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the current outbreak is the second-deadliest ever.

事實(shí)證明，兩種新的埃博拉治療方法非常有效，它們正在向剛果民主共和國(guó)的所有患者提供治療，該國(guó)目前的埃博拉疫情是有史以來(lái)死亡人數(shù)第二多的國(guó)家。

A randomized trial comparing four different treatments in four towns began in November. Of the four, two treatments known as REGN-EB3 and mAb114 were so effective that researchers announced today they have halted the trial and stopped distributing the others.

一項(xiàng)隨機(jī)試驗(yàn)于11月開(kāi)始，對(duì)四個(gè)城鎮(zhèn)的四種不同療法進(jìn)行比較。在這四種療法中，有兩種被稱(chēng)為regn-eb3和mAb114的治療非常有效，以至于研究人員今天宣布他們 已經(jīng)停止了試驗(yàn)，并停止了其他治療。

These early results suggest scientists are one step closer to curing the disease, which has killed more than 1,800 people in the DRC since last summer.

這些早期結(jié)果表明，科學(xué)家離治愈這種疾病又近了一步。自去年夏天以來(lái)，這種疾病在剛果民主共和國(guó)已經(jīng)導(dǎo)致1800多人死亡。

"From now on, we will no longer say that EVD (Ebola virus disease) is not curable," Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, general-director of the DRC's federal medical research institute, told reporters in a call. "This advance will, in the future, help save thousands of lives that would have had a fatal outcome in the past."

“從現(xiàn)在開(kāi)始，我們將不再說(shuō)埃博拉病毒病(EVD)是無(wú)法治愈的，”剛果民主共和國(guó)聯(lián)邦醫(yī)學(xué)研究所主任Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum在電話(huà)中告訴記者。“這一進(jìn)步將在未來(lái)幫助挽救數(shù)千人的生命，而這些生命在過(guò)去可能會(huì)有致命的后果。”

Initial results found that 499 patients who received the two more effective treatments had a higher chance of survival -- the mortality rate for REGN-EB3 and mAb114was 29% and 34% respectively. By contrast, the other two drugs -- ZMapp and Remdesivir -- had higher mortality rates of 49% and 53%.

初步結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，接受這兩種更有效治療的499名患者有更高的生存機(jī)會(huì)，REGN-EB3和mAb114的死亡率分別為29%和34%。相比之下，其他兩種藥物-ZMapp和Remdesvir-的死亡率更高，分別為49%和53%。

The two effective drugs worked even better for patients who were treated early -- the mortality rate dropped to 6% for REGN-EB3 and 11% for mAb114, according to Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and one of the researchers leading the trial.

美國(guó)國(guó)家過(guò)敏和傳染病研究所(NIAID)所長(zhǎng)、領(lǐng)導(dǎo)這項(xiàng)試驗(yàn)的研究人員之一福奇(Anthony Fauci)說(shuō)，這兩種有效藥物對(duì)早期治療的患者效果甚至更好——REGN-EB3的死亡率降至6%，mAb114的死亡率降至11%。

"It means we do have now what looks like treatments for a disease which, not too long ago, we really had no therapeutic approach at all," Fauci said at a press conference.

福奇在一次新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上說(shuō):“這意味著我們現(xiàn)在有了一種看起來(lái)像是治療某種疾病的方法，而就在不久前，我們還沒(méi)有任何治療方法。”

Fear and mistrust in local communities

當(dāng)?shù)厣鐓^(qū)的恐懼和不信任

Fighting Ebola in the DRC is made increasingly difficult and risky because of community mistrust, limited health care resources, difficult-to-access locations and violent attacks on heath care workers.

在剛果民主共和國(guó)抗擊埃博拉病毒變得越來(lái)越困難和危險(xiǎn)，因?yàn)樯鐓^(qū)的不信任，有限的醫(yī)療資源，難以進(jìn)入的地點(diǎn)，以及對(duì)衛(wèi)生保健工作者的暴力攻擊。

Families would see their relatives go to treatment centers, only to succumb to the deadly disease. So instead of going for treatment, many stayed at home and died, their bodies still highly contagious for the family members who buried them.

家庭會(huì)看到他們的親戚去治療中心，結(jié)果卻死于這種致命的疾病。因此，許多人沒(méi)有去接受治療，而是留在家里死去，他們的身體對(duì)埋葬他們的家人仍然具有高度傳染性。

Scientists think the virus initially infected humans through close contact with an infected animal, such as a bat, and then it spread from person to person. The virus spreads between humans through direct contact with an infected person's bodily fluids, including blood, feces or vomit, or direct contact with contaminated objects, such as needles and syringes.

科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，這種病毒最初通過(guò)與受感染的動(dòng)物(如蝙蝠)密切接觸而感染人類(lèi)，然后在人與人之間傳播。病毒通過(guò)直接接觸感染者的體液(包括血液、糞便或嘔吐物)或直接接觸受污染的物體(如針頭和注射器)在人與人之間傳播。