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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.

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cure n. ÁÆ·¨£¬ÖÎÁÆ£»Á¼Ò©

bacterium ( pl. bacteria ) n. ϸ¾ú

tuberculosis n. ½áºË£¨²¡£©

inactive adj. ²»»îÔ¾µÄ£¬·Ç»î¶¯ÐÔµÄ

antibiotic adj. ¿¹ÉúµÄ  n. ¿¹ÉúËØ

infectious adj. ´«È¾ÐÔµÄ

infection n. ´«È¾£¬¸ÐȾ£»´«È¾²¡

mathematical adj. Êýѧ£¨ÉÏ£©µÄ

partnership n. ºÏ×÷£¬ºÏ»ï£»ºÏ×÷»ï°é£¬ºÏ»ïÈË

alliance n. ͬÃË£¬ÁªÃË

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1.  World Health Organization (WHO)£ºÊÀ½çÎÀÉú×éÖ¯  

2.  Harvard University ( = Harvard )£º£¨ÃÀ¹ú£©¹þ·ð´óѧ

3.  DOTS ( Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course )£º¶ÌÆÚÖ±½Ó¹Û²ìÖÎÁÆ

4.  Global Alliance for TB Drug Development£ºÈ«Çò½áºË²¡Ò©Î￪·¢ÁªÃË