研究生科技英语阅读课文及译文第四章..docVIP

In Namibia, about one-quarter of children have stunted growth related to poor nutrition; about 120,000 children have lost one or both parents, predominantly to HIV/AIDS, and 26% of all women aged 15 to 49 have had at least one child die. Living more sanitarily may have increased asthma, but in terms of scale and impact, thats tiny compared with the benefit of not dying from disease for lack of hygiene, says Michael Bell, an infectious disease specialist and deputy director of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some scientists are searching for ways to harness the immune-priming effects of microorganisms without the fatal diseases. Parasitic worms known as helminthes are leading the way. Clinical trials are under way in the U.S. and Europe testing Trichuris Suis Ova (TSO)—-a species of pig whipworm—as a treatment for peanut allergies, ulcerative colitis, Crohns disease and MS. A study is being designed to test it with asthma. Its also being tested with adults who have autism, which some researchers believe could be related to immunological function. Enlarge Image Close China Photos/Getty Images A vendors baby sits amid the chickens at a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Preliminary studies seem promising: In one, when 29 patients with Crohns disease, a disorder of the digestive tract, were given TSO every three weeks for six months, symptoms improved in 21 of them with no adverse side effects. The ova are suspended in a liquid, invisible to the naked eye. Theres no taste, nothing to feel, says Dr. Weinstock, one of the early developers who could share in the proceeds if TSO proves successful. The microscopic eggs hatch into microscopic whipworms in the gastrointestinal tract, which interact with the hosts immune system and can dampen an overactive immune response, he explains. To date, there have been few side effects, he says. As far as we know, this agent doesnt cause diarrhea, he adds. Nothing crawls out of you.