温馨提示：手机用户请点击下方“原网页”或“电脑版”进行查看本文，效果最佳！
C
A person’s chances of falling ill from a new strain (菌株) of flu are at least partly determined by the first strain they ever met with, a study suggests.
Research in Science Journal looked at the 18 strains of influenza A (甲型流感) and the hemagglutinin protein (红血球凝集素蛋白) on its surface. They say there are only two types of this protein and people are protected from the one their body meets first, but at risk from the other one.
A UK expert said that could explain different patterns in flu pandemics (流行病).
The researchers, from University of Arizona in Tucson and the University of California, Los Angeles, suggest their findings could explain why some flu outbreaks cause more deaths and serious illnesses in younger people. The first time a person's immune system meets a flu virus, it makes antibodies targeting hemagglutinin protein that sticks out of the surface of the virus — like a lollipop (棒棒糖).
Even though there are 18 types of influenza A, there are only two versions of hemagglutinin. The researchers, led by Dr Michael Worobey, classed them as “blue” and “orange” lollipops. They said people born before the late 1960s were exposed to “blue lollipop” flu viruses — H1 or H2 — as children. In later life they rarely fell ill from another “blue lollipop” flu — H5N1 bird flu, but they died from “orange” H7N9. Those born in the late 1960s and exposed to “orange lollipop” flu — H3 — have the opposite pattern.
His team looked at cases of H5N1 and H7N9 — two kinds of bird flu which have affected hundreds of people, but have not developed into pandemics. The researchers found a 75% protection rate against severe disease and 80% protection rate against death if patients had been exposed to a virus with the same protein version when they were children.
DrWorobey said the finding could explain the unusual effect of the 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic, which was more deadly among young adults. “Those young adults were killed by an H1 virus and from blood analysed many decades later there is a pretty strong indication that those individuals had been exposed to a mismatched H3 as children and were therefore not protected against H1. The fact that we are seeing exactly the same pattern with current H5N1 and H7N9 cases suggests that the same fundamental processes may govern both the historic 1918 pandemic and today’s contenders (斗争者) for the next big flu pandemic.”
Jonathan Ball, professor of University of Nottingham, said, “This is a really neat piece of work and provides a reason why human populations have been sensitive to different strains of bird influenza over the past 100 years or so. The findings are based on analysis of patient records and they certainly need further proof in the laboratory, but nonetheless the results are pretty amazing and inspiring.”
61. The findings, if proved, will help people ________.
A. protect themselves from flu attacks
B. analyze more clearly the records of a patient infected with a bird flu
C. find out who are easier to get infected with a bird flu than others
D. find new drugs to cure patients of flu infections
62. The researchers use “blue lollipop” and “orange lollipop” for two versions of hemagglutinin in order to produce ________.
A. a good visual effect B. a good logic effect
C. an effect of being abstract D. an effect of being clear
63. While what Dr Worobey said is focused on the facts, Jonathan Ball’s remarks on the research are focused on ________.
A. the popularity of the research B. challenges and current situation
C. summary and future plans D. evaluation and influences
64.What can serve as the best title of this passage?
A. Cure for Bird Flu Not Far Away
B. First Flu Affects Lifetime Risk
C. New Classification of Flu Pandemics
D. How Bird Flu Affects People
  高考英语学习经验  http://www.17xuexiba.com/yy/