Better Control of TB seen if a faster cure is found
The World Health Organization1 estimates that about one-third of all people are infected with bacteria that cause tuberculosis . Most times, the infection remains inactive. But each year about eight million people develop active cases of TB, usually in their ____1____. Two million people die ____2____ it. The disease has ____3____ with the spread of AIDS and drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis.
Current treatments take at least six months. Patients have to ____4____ a combination of several antibiotic drugs daily. But many people stop ____5____ they feel better. Doing that can ____6____ to an infection that resists treatment. Public health experts agree that a faster-acting cure for tuberculosis would be more effective. Now a study estimates just how ____7____ it might be. A professor of international health at Harvard University2 led the study. Joshua Salomon says a shorter treatment program would likely mean not just more patients ____8____. It would also mean ____9____ infectious patients who can pass on their infection to others.
The researchers developed a mathematical model to examine the effects of a two-month treatment plan. They ____10____ the model with current TB conditions in Southeast Asia. The scientists found that a two-month treatment could prevent about twenty percent of new cases. And it might ____11____ about twenty-five percent of TB deaths. The model shows that these ____12____ would take place between two thousand twelve and two thousand thirty. That is, if a faster cure is developed and in wide use by two thousand twelve.
The World Health Organization ____13____ the DOTS3 program in nineteen ninety. DOTS is Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course. Health workers watch tuberculosis patients take their daily pills to make ____14____ they continue treatment.
Earlier this year, an international partnership of organizations announced a plan to expand the DOTS program. The ten-year plan also aims to finance research ____15____ new TB drugs. The four most common drugs used now are more than forty years old. The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development4 says its long-term goal is a treatment that could work in as few as ten doses.
词汇：
bacterium n. 细菌
tuberculosis n. 结核
inactive adj. 不活跃的，非活动性的
antibiotic adj. 抗生的 n. 抗生素
alliance n. 同盟，联盟
注释：
1. World Health Organization ：世界卫生组织
2. Harvard University ：哈佛大学
3. DOTS ：短期直接观察治疗
4. Global Alliance for TB Drug Development：全球结核病药物开发联盟
练习：
1. A) kidneys B) lungs C) bones D) livers
2. A) with B) without C) of D) out of
3. A) increased B) decreased C) changed D) disappeared
4. A) make B) take C) try D) test
5. A) as if B) as though C) as far as D) as soon as
6. A) refer B) apply C) lead D) amount
7. A) effective B) ineffective C) expensive D) inexpensive
8. A) cured B) to cure C) being cured D) having been cured
9. A) many B) more C) few D) fewer
10. A) provided B) introduced C) tested D) tempted
11. A) bring about B) contributed to C) promote D) prevent
12. A) increases B) reductions C) creations D) collections
13. A) developed B) invented C) delayed D) refused
14. A) easy B) uneasy C) sure D) unsure
15. A) with B) to C) onto D) into
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