美国的卫生系统会为冠状病毒病例的激增做好准备吗?

美国的卫生系统会为冠状病毒病例的激增做好准备吗?

Another U.S. case of infection with the novel coronavirus was confirmed Thursday, bringing the total number of domestic cases to 15. Around the world, cases have reached nearly 60.000 to date.

周四，美国又确诊一例新型冠状病毒感染病例，使美国国内病例总数达到15例。在世界各地，迄今为止，病例已达近6万例。

But if something changes and large numbers of people get infected in the U.S., is the country's health system prepared to cope with a surge of patients with this virus, or any future pathogen?

但是，如果情况发生变化，美国有大量的人被感染，这个国家的卫生系统是否准备好应对这种病毒或任何未来病原体患者的激增?

"Surge capacity in the health care system is something that we think a lot about and prepare for in the U.S., and not specifically to coronavirus per se, but for a whole host of events that could occur in the United States," says Jonathan Greene, director of emergency management and medical operations at the Department of Health and Human Services.

卫生与公众服务部应急管理和医疗行动主任乔纳森·格林表示：“我们在美国对医疗保健系统的激增能力进行了很多考虑和准备，并不是特别针对冠状病毒本身，而是针对可能在美国发生的一系列事件。”

Greene points out that the likelihood of the average American coming down with the virus, if the person has not traveled to China or come into close contact with someone who has, remains "extremely low." Public health officials have repeatedly cautioned that there are currently no signs of community transmission.

格林指出，普通美国人感染病毒的可能性仍然“极低”，如果这个人没有去过中国，也没有与有过这种病毒的人有过密切接触。公共卫生官员一再警告说，目前没有社区传播的迹象。

Even so, Greene says the federal agency is working to be able to treat thousands of patients if need be.

尽管如此，格林说，联邦机构正在努力，如果需要的话，能够治疗数千名患者。

But other experts are skeptical about the U.S. capacity to handle a severe epidemic with a sudden surge of thousands of infections.

但其他专家对美国处理严重疫情的能力表示怀疑，因为感染人数突然激增数千人。

"No one is ready for a worst case-scenario for a really bad, lethal, fast-moving pandemic," says bioterrorism and biosafety expert Dr. Tara O'Toole, former undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security and now at In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit strategic investment firm that supports U.S. national security.

生物恐怖主义和生物安全专家塔拉·奥图尔博士说：“没有人准备好迎接最坏的情况--一场非常糟糕、致命、快速蔓延的流行病。”奥图尔博士曾担任国土安全部负责科学和技术的副部长，现在供职于支持美国国家安全的非营利性战略投资公司In-Q-Tele.

For instance, O'Toole thinks that hospitals would have a very hard time handling a lot of critically ill patients who need to be in isolation. "That's why we want to make sure that the people we're putting in hospitals and keeping isolated are really the ones who need that kind of care," she says.

例如，奥图尔认为，医院将很难处理许多需要隔离的危重病人。“这就是为什么我们要确保我们送进医院并保持隔离的人是真正需要这种护理的人，”她说。

Greene says plans are in place to address this issue. "One of the ways we do that is through the expansion of telemedicine or the ability to utilize other types of facilities to treat patients that don't need the type of acute care that someone who has severe respiratory distress might require."

格林说，已经制定了解决这个问题的计划。“我们做到这一点的方法之一是通过扩大远程医疗或利用其他类型的设施来治疗那些不需要急性护理的病人，而那些有严重呼吸困难的人可能需要这种护理。”

Plans are also underway to work with emergency medical service systems to transport patients if need be to facilities other than hospital emergency departments.

还在计划与紧急医疗服务系统合作，在需要时将患者运送到医院急诊科以外的设施。

In Portland, Ore., Dr. Dawn Nolt, an infectious disease specialist at Oregon Health & Science University, says her hospital has protocols in place to screen patients for dangerous infectious disease.

在俄勒冈州的波特兰，俄勒冈健康与科学大学的传染病专家童恩诺尔特博士说，她的医院已经制定了筛查患者危险传染病的方案。

"These protocols have been established since the onset of Ebola, and we have used them to screen patients who have come in with very many infections, including ones such as SARS and MERS," she says. And today, the hospital follows guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when screening patients for symptoms of the new virus, such as fever and cough.

她说：“自从埃博拉病毒爆发以来，我们就建立了这些方案，我们用它们来筛查那些感染了很多病毒的患者，包括SARS和MERS。”今天，医院在筛查患者是否有发烧和咳嗽等新病毒症状时，会遵循疾病控制和预防中心的指导。

"If they have been to China, we would escort them into a private room to remove them from other patients and visitors," Nolt says. They would be evaluated, and if it's determined patients are infected or suspected of being infected with the coronavirus, they would be placed in what's called "airborne isolation," she says.

诺尔特说：“如果他们去过中国，我们会护送他们进入一间私人房间，把他们从其他病人和访客那里带走。”她说，他们将接受评估，如果确定患者感染或怀疑感染了冠状病毒，他们将被置于所谓的“空气隔离”中。

This is a precaution used to prevent the spread of germs through the air or dust. Typically, this is a private room that has an air-exchange system that prevents germs from leaving the room.

这是一种预防措施，用来防止细菌通过空气或灰尘传播。通常情况下，这是一个私人房间，有一个空气交换系统，可以防止细菌离开房间。

The hospital has conducted drills to prepare for patients who have to be isolated, as did the hospital in Washington state where the first patient identified with the new coronavirus was taken. Nationwide, many hospitals have engaged in similar drills.

医院已经进行了演练，为必须隔离的患者做准备，华盛顿州的医院也是如此，该医院接收了第一例确诊为新型冠状病毒的患者。在全国范围内，许多医院都进行了类似的演习。