-
一、时文阅读
Prevention is
better than cure: Targeted vaccination to halt
epidemics
It's
an
option
that
is
nearly
always
more
effective
than
either
doing
nothing
or
attempting to contain an outbreak
through quarantine.
Under
normal circumstances, the most effective way to
prevent illness is to vaccinate
according to national immunisation
schedules. Widespread immunisation programmes
in Europe have made previously deadly
diseases such as
smallpox(
天花
)and
polio(
小
儿麻痹症
)a
thing of the past.
This
study looked specifically at epidemic outbreaks.
They found that in such cases
targeting
carefully
selected
individuals
with
vaccination
can
be
successful
in
containing
the
outbreak,
even
with
only
a
relatively
small
number
of
individuals
getting the
relevant shot.
The
scientists
ran
physics-based
simulations
on
networks
which
sought
to
replicate
the way
individuals interact with one another in the real
world, such as through the
global
air
transportation
network.
The
simulations
are
simplified
versions
of
computational
frameworks
commonly
used
to
investigate
the
global
spread
of
real-world
epidemics,
such
as
Severe
Acute
Respiratory
Syndrome
(SARS).
Nevertheless,
they
help
understanding
basic
features
of
the
more
complicated
and
realistic models.
In
the
simulations,
individuals
correspond
to
'nodes'
that
can
transmit
an
infection
through the links
between them. The scientists found that
quarantining nodes after the
outbreak
of
an
epidemic
very
quickly
becomes
ineffective.
Quite
early
on
in
a
simulated
outbreak,
even
the
'do
nothing'
(non-intervention)
strategy
becomes
preferable to
quarantine.
Targeted
vaccination was found to be the best option in
nearly all epidemic cases. The
scientists used a vaccination strategy
based on 'optimal percolation', which consists of
finding the least set of nodes that,
when removed from a network, can fragment it into
small clusters. The idea behind this
approach is that fragmenting the network ensures
infections are contained within small
groups, hence preventing the occurrence of large
outbreaks.
This
might
all seem
like common sense, but
preventive vaccination
is
not
common
practice
for
all
illnesses
and
for
some,
vaccines
do
not
yet
exist.
The
norovirus
outbreak
at
this
year's
Winter
Olympic
Games
is
an
example
where
quarantine
has
been
used
as
the
option
available
to
health
officials.
Medical
professionals
have
attempted to initially
contain the outbreak by imposing quarantine on the
hundreds of
staff who were unlucky
enough to catch the virus. Despite these measures,
the illness
is continuing to spread and
has started to affect some of the
athletes.
In
recent
years,
physicists
have
made
significant
advances
in
the
field
of
network
immunisation, developing increasingly
efficient techniques to immunise a network by
the 'removal' (vaccination) of a few
nodes. This knowledge can help to support health
policy as policymakers look to ensure
increased global security against
epidemics.
NOTES
核心词汇
：
拓展变形
pond
correspondence
corresponding
ent
efficiency
efficiently
inefficiency
inefficient
simplification
simplified
simplify
simply
selection
selective
selector
preferable
preferably
preference
nt
irrelevant
relevantly
五、重点讲解
1
：
quarantine
英
[?kw?
r
?
nti?n]
美
[?kw??r?nti?n]
n. a period of time when an animal or a
person that has or may have a disease is kept
away from others in order to prevent
the disease from spreading
（为防传染的）隔离期；检疫
put an animal or a person into
quarantine
(
对动物或人
)
进行检疫，隔离
例句
The quarantine
of coronavirus is being carried.
冠状病毒的隔离正在进行中。
(2)
词根词缀
quarant= forty
四十
Quarantine n.
隔离检查
quarant
四十
+ ine
抽象名词
→
被隔离数〔四十〕天
→
隔离检查
(3)
近义辨析
isolation/quarantine
Isolation
and
quarantine
help
protect
the
public
by
preventing
exposure
to
people who have or may
have a contagious disease.
Isolation
separates sick
people with a contagious disease from people who
are
not sick.
Quarantine
separates and
restricts the movement of people who were exposed
to a contagious disease to see if they
become sick.
U.S.
Quarantine
Stations,
located
at
ports
of
entry
and
land
border
crossings,
use these public
health practices as part of a comprehensive
Quarantine System
that serves to limit
the introduction of infectious diseases into the
United States
and to prevent their
spread.
What is the
difference between isolation and
quarantine?
Isolation
and
quarantine
are
public
health
practices
used
to
stop
or
limit
the
spread of
disease.