百日咳细菌变异成超级细菌，呼吁研制新疫苗

百日咳细菌变异成超级细菌，呼吁研制新疫苗

There are calls for a new vaccine with research showing whooping cough bacteria are becoming smarter at colonising and feeding off unwitting hosts - whether they have been vaccinated or not.

有研究表明，百日咳细菌在不知不觉中寄生和吞噬宿主方面变得越来越聪明，因此人们呼吁研制一种新的疫苗——不管这些宿主是否接种过疫苗。

The research, conducted by the University of NSW, indicates Australia needs a new whooping cough vaccine to ensure our most vulnerable are protected from the emergence of superbug strains.

这项由新南威尔士大学进行的研究表明，澳大利亚需要一种新的百日咳疫苗，以确保我们最脆弱的人群免受超级细菌株的侵袭。

The current vaccine, widely used since 2000, targets three antigens in the bacteria of the highly contagious respiratory disease which can be fatal to infants.

目前的疫苗从2000年开始广泛使用，目标是三种高传染性呼吸道疾病细菌中的抗原，这种疾病对婴儿是致命的。

All babies under six months old – in particular, newborns not protected by maternal immunisation – are at risk of catching the vaccine-preventable disease because they are either too young to be vaccinated or have not yet completed the three-dose primary vaccine course.

所有6个月以下的婴儿——特别是没有得到母亲免疫接种保护的新生儿——都有感染疫苗可预防疾病的风险，因为他们要么太小无法接种疫苗，要么尚未完成三剂初级疫苗疗程。

Australia's whooping cough epidemic from 2008 to 2012 saw more than 140,000 cases – with a peak of almost 40,000 in 2011 – and revealed the rise of evolving strains able to evade vaccine-generated immunity.

从2008年到2012年，澳大利亚的百日咳疫情共出现了14万多例病例，2011年的峰值为近4万例。这表明，能够逃避疫苗产生的免疫的进化毒株正在增多。

In a series of UNSW studies, with the latest published today, researchers took this knowledge further and showed, in a world-first discovery, the evolving strains made additional changes to better survive in their host, regardless of that person's vaccination status. They also identified new antigens as potential vaccine targets.

在新南威尔士大学的一系列研究中(今天最新发表)，研究人员进一步研究了这一知识，并在一项世界首次发现中表明，进化的菌株为了更好地在宿主体内生存而做出了额外的改变，而不管宿主的免疫状况如何。他们还发现了新的抗原作为潜在的疫苗靶点。

First author and microbiologist Dr Laurence Luu, who led the team of researchers with Professor Ruiting Lan, said whooping cough's ability to adapt to vaccines and survival in humans might be the answer to its surprise resurgence despite Australia's high vaccination rates.

该研究报告的第一作者、微生物学家劳伦斯·卢博士与兰瑞廷教授共同领导了这一研究小组。他说，尽管澳大利亚的疫苗接种率很高，但百日咳对疫苗的适应能力和在人体中的生存能力，可能是它出人意料地卷土重来的原因。