環(huán)球英語 — 211：Sleeping Sickness
Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.
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And I’m Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Maman Louise lives in the city of Nkayi in western Congo. During a civil war in her country, she had to leave her home. She stayed in the forest for two years. During this time, she started acting strange. She tells of her behaviour:
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“My eyes rolled around my head and I could not stop talking. Sometimes I started singing and then I became violent. I was very bad, even to my own children. I wanted to kill my own son. I threw things at him. I was wild. But I had no idea what I was doing.”
Voice 2
People in Maman Louise’s community knew something was wrong. They thought an evil spirit had entered her body. A local spirit doctor tried to help her but nothing changed. Maman Louise’s problem was not caused by evil spirits, but by a small insect.
Today’s Spotlight is on Human African Trypanosomiasis, also called “Sleeping Sickness.”
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Sleeping sickness is a disease that insects pass on to humans. The tsetse fly is a flying insect in Africa. The fly bites animals and humans. Sometimes these flies carry a small parasite organism. It is called a trypanosome. When the fly bites a human, these trypanosomes enter the person’s body. These organisms cause sleeping sickness.
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The trypanosomes cause many problems in a person’s body. First, the person will feel pain in his head, arms and legs. As the organisms enter further into the blood system, they cause other problems. They affect many body systems, including the heart, blood, and kidneys. Finally, the disease affects the brain and nervous system. The person does not understand things around him. His sleep changes. He sleeps during the day but not at night. He may become very tired. These problems with sleeping give the disease its name.
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But sleeping sickness is more serious than sleep problems. A person with sleeping sickness may change. She may become angry with no reason. She may lose weight. Walking and talking may become difficult. The person may even experience seizures. The sufferer’s body will shake without his or her control. If these victims do not receive treatment, they die.
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Sleeping Sickness affects people only in sub–Saharan Africa. This is where the tsetse fly lives. Sleeping sickness is a serious problem in seven countries in this area. This includes Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and the Congo. In these countries it is said to be highly endemic. This means that the disease rates are very high. Many people have the disease, so it is passed between people more often.
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Not all countries in sub–Saharan Africa have such serious problems with sleeping sickness. But wherever the disease exists, it makes life difficult for people. A WHO study from 2000 showed that the disease affected three hundred thousand [300,000] people that year. But only twenty–seven thousand [27,000] people were treated for the disease that year. But since then the situation has improved. In 2005, the World Health Organization said that many fewer cases of Sleeping Sickness were reported. Fewer people are getting the disease.
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Sleeping sickness cannot be prevented by a vaccine or medicine. So to avoid the disease, a person must avoid the tsetse fly. Avoiding the fly can be simple. Wearing thick clothes that cover the skin prevents fly bites. It also helps if the clothes are not bright colored. Tsetse flies like colorful clothes.
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It is important to look for tsetse flies inside a car before entering the vehicle. Avoid riding in the back of trucks in the open air. The flies enjoy the dust that vehicles make while driving. And finally, people should sleep under an insect net. This thin cloth will keep the flies away at night. In Congo, people also use a special device to catch tsetse flies. The flies enter the device but cannot leave.
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In Kenya, researchers are reducing the tsetse fly population. The researchers use radiation to make male flies unable to mate. The male flies try to mate with female flies. Female flies only mate once in their life. So when the male fails to mate with them, the females will never mate again. The radiation treatment keeps the flies from creating more flies that could infect people.
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But what can a person do if an infected fly does bite them? It is important to know what happens to a person with sleeping sickness. Knowing a person is sick is the most important thing. Many people suffer from sleeping sickness and do not know that a disease is causing the problem. They think that they are just sleeping badly. Or, like in Maman Louise’s case, they think the person has an evil spirit. Knowing about the disease is the first step in getting treatment.
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If someone thinks that they may be infected, they should go see a doctor. The doctor can test for the disease. He can give a treatment for the disease. There a few different treatments for sleeping sickness. Doctors treated Maman Louise with a drug called Melarsoprol. This treatment is sometimes very dangerous. In one village, sixty three [63] people received Melarsoprol treatment. Eleven [11] of them died because of it. The treatment is also very painful. When the drug is injected into a person’s arm, it burns with pain. This is the only treatment available for many people.
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But there are other ways to treat the disease. The disease has two stages or parts. The first stage is less severe. Doctors can give the drug Pentamidine during this first stage. But most people do not know that they are sick until they are in the second stage. This is the stage that is more difficult to treat. Doctors usually use Melarsoprol in this stage.
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Doctors have developed a drug that is painless, but it costs a lot of money. This drug is called Eflornithine. This treatment is not dangerous like Melarsoprol. Villagers in Congo call Eflornithine the “resurrection drug.” This is because the drug cures people very quickly. It seems as if they are resurrected, or raised from the dead. But giving this treatment can cost a lot of money.
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Drug companies and the WHO have worked together to provide Eflornithine for free. But Congo’s health ministry office said that tools to use the drug still cost too much. It costs about one hundred [100] dollars to give the drug. They have decided to continue using Melarsoprol instead.
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Many international organizations are working to continue to reduce the cases of sleeping sickness in Africa. But to stop the disease completely, they must discover an easier way to treat the disease. Doctors continue to develop new ways to treat the disease. But they all agree that knowledge and prevention are the most important steps in stopping Sleeping Sickness.
