■2005年03月23日：世界結核デー

■2005年03月23日放送： 「World Tuberculosis Day」 「世界結核デー」 ──────────────────────────────────── ■音声ファイル(MP3形式、約４分) ftp://8475.ftp.storage.akadns.net/mp3/voa/english/spec/spec0041a0323.mp3 　「右クリック」→「対象をファイルに保存」等にてダウンロードしてください ──────────────────────────────────── ■要約 ３月２４日は世界結核デーです。結核は空気感染します。感染しても必ずしも発 病しません。病原体は体内に何年も潜みます。 今日でも結核は世界で第２の死因です。結核の治療には薬を組み合わせて使いま す。しかし結核菌は耐性と持ってきています。患者さんが服薬の指針から外れる ことにより、耐性が生じます。 ──────────────────────────────────── ■解説 結核は栄養状態の悪い発展途上国では、非常に大きな問題です。 そして、日本でも大きな問題です。というのは、日本は欧米に比べて比較的最近 まで栄養状態が悪かったからです。 もちろん治療可能な病気なので、「妙に長引く風邪」の際には病院を受診して下 さい。 病院を受診して風邪の診断を受けていても、いつまでも風邪が長引く際には再度 受診してください。 ５分だけでも、結核予防会のホームページをご覧になってください。 http://www.jata.or.jp/jou_tp.html 　　 　　　　----------------------------------------------- 私は、以前ボランティアでアフガニスタンに結核の治療に行っていました。 少しよくなれば治療を中断する患者さん、風邪薬のように気軽に結核の薬を処方 する医師に驚きました。 そしてたくさんの耐性菌が生じるのです。 満足に食事もできない人がたくさんいる本当に悲惨な状況でした。 ──────────────────────────────────── ■英語原稿 I’m Gwen Outen with the Health Report in VOA Special English. Thursday is World Tuberculosis【(名)結核、TB】 Day. It is recognized on March twenty-fourth each year to raise awareness about the international health threat of tuberculosis. Health officials from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention【(名)疾病対策予防センター、CDC】 organize the event each year. They say it is a valuable chance to educate the public about TB and how it can be stopped. TB is caused by a mycobacterium【(名)マイコバクテリウム属 】. The disease spreads easily through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes【sneeze(動)くしゃみする】 or even talks. But people infected with the disease will not necessarily become sick. The organism can live in the body for years before becoming active. In the late eighteen hundreds, TB killed one out of every seven people living in the United States and Europe. On March twenty-fourth, eighteen eighty-two, Robert Koch announced the discovery of the mycobacterium that causes tuberculosis. At the time, it was the most important step towards controlling and ending this deadly disease. One hundred years later, the World Health Organization and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 【(名)結核および肺疾患国際連合】 organized the first World TB Day. The event was designed to educate the public about the international health and economic effects of the disease, especially in developing countries. Today, tuberculosis infects at least eight million people each year. It also is the second leading cause of death around the world. The disease kills two million to three million people each year. Only Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome kills more people. Eleven million people are infected with both tuberculosis and the virus that causes AIDS. A combination of medicines is used to treat tuberculosis. But experts say the drug treatment is no longer effective against the disease in many parts of the world. This is because the mycobacterium has developed defenses against it. Doctors say the resistance resulted from patients failing to follow directions for taking the medicines. Researchers recently discovered a new drug that may help the fight against tuberculosis. The substance is called R-two-zero-seven-nine-one-zero. Scientists have just begun to test the experimental drug in people. Health officials say with enough efforts and resources, TB can be cured and controlled. This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Gwen Outen.