宏浩翻譯有限公司

◎李信漢

A new and inexpensive test is making it possible to identify all of a person’s past and present viral infections by simply analyzing a drop of blood.

一個新的、不昂貴的檢測，僅僅藉由分析一滴血，就可以辨識出一個人過去和現在所有的病毒感染情況。

The method, called VirScan, provides an alternative to sampling blood for one virus at a time, said researchers, who described the new technology in the US journal Science.

這種被稱為「病毒掃描」的方法，提供一種替代抽血的選擇，抽血一次只能檢測一種病毒，研究者們說，他們在美國科學期刊上描述這種新科技。

The new approach, developed by scientists from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), helps health professionals identify multiple factors that might be affecting a person’s health, rather than just one virus.

這種新方法，是由霍華休斯醫學研究中心（HHMI）的科學家們所研發，幫助醫學專家們辨識出多種可能影響一個人健康的因素，而不是只研究單一種病毒。

It also helps researchers analyze viruses in a larger population, and can be performed at $25 per blood sample.

這也有助於研究者們在大規模人口群體中分析病毒，而它進行抽血分析的價格是每次25美元。

The researchers have already used VirScan to analyze the blood of 569 people in the United States, South Africa, Thailand and Peru.

研究者已經用「病毒掃描」，在美國、南非、泰國和秘魯分析過569人的血液。

The test works by searching a person’s blood for antibodies to any of the 206 virus species that are known to infect humans.

這種檢測進行的方式，是藉由找尋受試者體內血液是否存有任何一種抗體，對抗206種已知會感染人類的病毒。

Even after a body’s immune system has kicked a virus, it continues to produce the antibodies against that virus for years, which is what the scientists search for.(AFP)

就算人類的免疫系統在擊敗一種病毒後，它會繼續產生抗體對那種抗病毒長達數年，這種抗體就是科學家所在找尋的。（法新社）

新聞辭典

virus：名詞，病毒。例句：Is the illness caused by bacteria or a virus?（這個疾病是由細菌或病毒引起的嗎？）

antibody：名詞，抗體。例句：She received an antibody injection and is undergoing.（她接種一種抗體注射，且仍在接受治療。）

infect：動詞，（病毒）感染。例句：The flu virus infected almost the entire class.（全班幾乎都感染了流行性感冒病毒。）