你是否發(fā)現(xiàn)身邊越來越多人抽著鼻涕，表情難受地走在路上，又或者你就是其中一員，覺得鼻子堵塞，頭痛難受，渾身累的不行。

千萬別覺得這只是普通的感冒而不去在意，它極有可能是流感，流感和感冒雖然癥狀相似可是卻是有著巨大的不同！流感更容易致死！

流感病毒本身有著不確定的突變性，每隔幾年就會(huì)產(chǎn)生幾種新的變異，而你以前接種的疫苗抗體并不能識(shí)別新的變異體，這也導(dǎo)致流感病毒總會(huì)在一段時(shí)間后卷土重來。

目前在世界各地都爆出流感爆發(fā)的新聞，中國很多大城市醫(yī)院的兒科已經(jīng)人滿為患；英國流感的爆發(fā)使得超過120人致死；美國流感則為近10年之最；澳大利亞目前死亡人數(shù)已超過370人……

因?yàn)榱鞲械谋l(fā)，近期可能有許多人已經(jīng)了解一個(gè)在英國、美國、澳大利亞肆無忌憚橫行的流感：澳大利亞流感（Aussie Flu）。

千萬別因?yàn)樗拿侄憛挵拇罄麃?，澳大利亞并不是這個(gè)流感的源頭。作為以澳大利亞命名的流感病毒，澳大利亞人也和我們一樣在這流感的爆發(fā)下瑟瑟發(fā)抖。

是不是很奇怪為什么澳大利亞流感以澳大利亞命名？

The Virus Strain has been called “Aussie flu” because it is the same strain that gave Australia its worst flu season for nearly a decade.
該病毒株被稱為澳大利亞流感的原因是它已經(jīng)持續(xù)肆虐在澳大利亞將近十年。

澳大利亞病毒的正式名稱為H3N2，目前這種流感病毒正在英國以一種不可思議的速度傳播著，《英國電訊報(bào)》在18號(hào)發(fā)表了一篇關(guān)于該流感的文章，標(biāo)題為“流感在英國迅速傳播的兩周內(nèi)已經(jīng)有830萬人感染類似病癥”（Flu epidemic set to hit Britain within fortnight as 8.3 million now suffering symptoms）。

從其中一張由英格蘭公共衛(wèi)生部門（Public Health England）提供的資料組成的動(dòng)圖里就可以看到流感在英國蔓延的恐怖速度。

近期英國方面的資料顯示：

The number of people admitted to hospital with influenza in the first week of 2018 was six times higher than during the same period last year.
今年第一個(gè)星期因?yàn)榱鞲卸≡旱娜藬?shù)比去年同一時(shí)間段高六倍。

Some 758 people were hospitalized this year with confirmed flu cases, according to Public Health England. There were 110 during the same week in 2017.
英格蘭公共衛(wèi)生部收集到的資料顯示，今年758個(gè)住院的人被確診為流感，而去年2017年同一時(shí)間段則為110人。

There was also a rise in visits to general practitioners from people with flu-like illnesses, up from 18.8 per 100,000 people during the first week of last year, to 37.3 this year.
同時(shí)，在新年第一個(gè)星期，英國流感類似癥狀病患訪問醫(yī)生人數(shù)也大幅提升，從去年的每十萬人中18.8人上升為今年的每十萬人中37.3個(gè)人。

general practitioner：全科醫(yī)生

The number of people admitted to intensive care almost tripled, with 240 in the first week of this year compared to 84 in 2017.
而因感冒進(jìn)入重病特別護(hù)理的人數(shù)也幾乎為去年的三倍，2017年為84人，今年則是240人。

英國RCGP研究檢測(cè)中心的醫(yī)療總監(jiān)Simon De Lusignan說道：

“We can certainly say that last week… flu in England took off, crossing the medium threshold. However, given how unpredictable flu can be, it is impossible to speculate how this will progress moving forward – rates may increase further, they may level out, or even decline.”
“我們可以確定的是，流感在上個(gè)星期已經(jīng)在英格蘭蔓延開來，并且已經(jīng)超過了中等嚴(yán)重性。不管怎么樣，流感病毒的變化是無法預(yù)知的，想要去推測(cè)流感未來的趨勢(shì)是不可能的，流感蔓延可能會(huì)越來越嚴(yán)重，維持一段時(shí)間，感染人數(shù)可能也會(huì)逐漸下降?！?/p>

英格蘭公共衛(wèi)生部門的醫(yī)療總監(jiān)Paul Cosford說：

“We are currently seeing a mix of flu types, including the A(H3N2) strain that circulated last winter in the UK and then in Australia. The A(H3N2) strain particularly affects older, more vulnerable age groups.”
“我們現(xiàn)在遇到了多種流感病毒，它包括了H3N2病毒株，該病毒株出現(xiàn)在上個(gè)冬季的英國以及澳大利亞，需要注意的是，H3N2病毒株更容易感染老年人以及身體較差的人。”

雖然遠(yuǎn)在地球的另一端，但中國被流感感染的人數(shù)也在迅猛增加。

Like many places in China this winter, Beijing has been hit by one of the worst flu epidemics in recent years.
在這個(gè)冬季，就像中國其他地方一樣，北京也正面臨著在近些年來最糟糕的流感病情。

Beijing reported 9,548 cases in the first week of 2018, a rise of more than 21 percent compared to the previous week.
在北京現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)有9548件感染病例，在新年的第一個(gè)星期，對(duì)比去年感染人數(shù)增多了百分之二十一。

Six clinical stations staffed by doctors are in place to treat children at China-Japan Friendship Hospital. Around 500 patients a day went to see doctors in the emergency departmentso far this winter, with more than 20,000 patients a month seeking some kind of treatment.
在這個(gè)冬季，北京中日友好醫(yī)院的六個(gè)接診室全部安排了醫(yī)生為生病的孩子們看病。平均每天都有500人來到急診部看醫(yī)生。平均每月有超過2萬病患來到急診部求診。

The number of reported flu cases in Beijing have started to increase at a slower rate and the spread of infection is predicted to lessen in the next two weeks, the Beijing commission of Health and Family Planning said on Monday.
北京衛(wèi)生和計(jì)劃生育委員會(huì)在星期一說到，盡管北京方面流感感染人數(shù)也在緩慢的增加著，但是可以預(yù)測(cè)的是該趨勢(shì)會(huì)在接下來的兩個(gè)星期內(nèi)慢慢減少。

而在這種時(shí)期當(dāng)然少不了大家最關(guān)心的疫苗問題了，很遺憾的是，盡管人類目前抗擊流感病毒最有效的方法是接種疫苗，但是根據(jù)全球流感中心（World Influenza Centre）的信息，即使是最新的流感疫苗對(duì)于澳大利亞病毒也并非是最有效的。

值得慶幸的是英國一家生物科技公司正在著手進(jìn)行一項(xiàng)可以治愈大部分類型的流感疫苗，甚至還得到了中國一家風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司的青睞和注資。

全球每年死于流感的人接近65萬，相信如果該疫苗能被研發(fā)出來，我們每年就可以不用對(duì)流感如臨大敵般誠惶誠恐。

When viewed under a microscope, the flu virus resembles a studded sphere, or pin cushion. Existing flu vaccines use surface proteins that lie on the outside of flu virus – the pinheads – to stimulate the body’s immune system to produce disease-fighting antibodies. A new vaccine developed by Vacitech uses core proteins to stimulate an immune response. These core proteins remain virtually unchanged in most viruses that cause illness.
通過顯微鏡觀察流感病毒的時(shí)候，流感病毒看起來像是一個(gè)布滿顆粒的球體，又或者是針線包?，F(xiàn)有的流感疫苗使用病毒表面的蛋白質(zhì)（或者說其表面的針頭）來促進(jìn)我們身體的免疫力，使我們身體里的抗體和病毒對(duì)抗起來。而該科技公司正在著手研發(fā)的疫苗則是使用病毒的核心蛋白引起身體免疫反應(yīng)。對(duì)于大部分引起疾病的病毒來說，這些核心蛋白幾乎一直保持不變。

流感和感冒的區(qū)別

許多人以為自己得的只是感冒，甚至以為流感只是重感冒，但是其中的區(qū)別可大了。

英國NHS Choice的文章“感冒還是流感？”（Cold or Flu?）里提到:

Flu is not a “bad cold”. Each year, thousands of people die from complications after catching the flu.
流感并非是重感冒！每年都有成千上萬的人死于流感引發(fā)的并發(fā)癥。

Colds and flu share some of the same symptoms (cough, sore throat), but are caused by different viruses. The flu can be much more serious than a cold.
感冒和流感有部分癥狀很相似，例如，它們都會(huì)使人感到喉嚨痛并且引起咳嗽等，但是因?yàn)樗麄兪怯刹煌牟《疽鸬?，流感引發(fā)的癥狀比感冒更加嚴(yán)重。

看到這大家是否都覺得一陣驚慌？別著急，如果你平常多運(yùn)動(dòng)并且關(guān)注自己的健康，流感不一定會(huì)是你的煩惱。

If you’re generally fit and healthy, you can usually manage the symptoms of a cold or flu yourself without seeing your general practitioner.
如果你自身的身體素質(zhì)較好，那么即使你有流感或者感冒的癥狀，你也不用非得去看家庭醫(yī)生。

盡管感冒和流感的癥狀很相似，但是流感的癥狀則更加嚴(yán)重。

Colds cause more nasal problems than flu. Fever, fatigue and muscle aches are more likely and more severe with flu.
相比流感，感冒更容易引起和鼻子相關(guān)的癥狀。而類似發(fā)燒，疲勞和肌肉酸疼等更嚴(yán)重的癥狀則更可能是流感引起的。

感冒和流感共有的癥狀（symptom）包括：

Blocked or runny nose, sore throat, headaches, cough, sneezing, pressure in your ears and face, loss of taste and smell, a high temperature or fever, muscle aches and pains, feeling exhausted and needing to lie down.
鼻子堵塞和流清鼻涕、喉嚨痛、頭疼、咳嗽、打噴嚏、臉部及耳朵內(nèi)有壓力感、失去味覺和嗅覺、高燒、肌肉酸痛或感到疲勞需要躺下。

兩者的區(qū)別在于：

A cold develops gradually over one or two days and you’re most contagious during the early stages when you have a runny nose and sore throat. You should begin to feel better after a few days but some colds can last up to two weeks.
感冒需要一到兩天來加重，在感冒初期，你極有可能會(huì)把感冒病毒傳染給他人，特別是在你鼻子開始流鼻涕并感受到喉嚨疼的時(shí)候。在這之后的幾天你的感冒會(huì)漸漸好轉(zhuǎn)，但是一些感冒可能會(huì)持續(xù)一到兩個(gè)星期。

The flu usually comes on much more quickly than a cold, and symptoms appear one to three days after infection. You should begin to feel better within a week or so, but you may feel tired for much longer.
流感的癥狀一般會(huì)比感冒來的更快，感染后一到三天出現(xiàn)流感癥狀。在之后的一個(gè)星期內(nèi)你應(yīng)該會(huì)漸漸好轉(zhuǎn)，但是流感帶來的疲勞感會(huì)持續(xù)很長一段時(shí)間。

不管是感冒還是流感，當(dāng)你有以下一種狀況的時(shí)候你一定要就醫(yī)（get medical help）：

? have a chronic condition (such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease);
有慢性?。ㄈ缦?，糖尿病或者心臟?。?；

? Have a very high fever as well as an unusually severe headache or abdominal or chest pain.
高燒同時(shí)有嚴(yán)重的頭痛或者感到腹部/胸痛。

來源：中國日?qǐng)?bào)雙語微信
編輯：左卓 歐智偉（實(shí)習(xí)生）