2008年卫生新书（蓝色标题为09年新增文章）.docVIP

2008年卫生新书 (蓝色标题为09年新增文章) 第六部分 完形填空Better Control of TB Seen If a Faster Cure is Found (C级) 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 lungs . Two million people die of it. The disease has increased with the spread of AIDS and drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis. Current treatments take at least six months. Patients have to take a combination of several antibiotic drugs daily. But many people stop as soon as they feel better. Doing that can lead 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 effective 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 cured. It would also mean fewer 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 tested 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 prevent about twenty-five percent of TB deaths. The model shows that these reductions 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 developed the DOTS3 program in nineteen ninety. DOTS is Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course. Health workers watch tuberculosis patients take their daily pills to make sure they continue treatment. Earlier this year, an international partnership of organizations announced a plan to expand the DOTS program. The ten-year plan also