长新冠

What Is Long COVID?

常速 | 四级 | 878词 | 5min1s

刘立军 供稿

Part I. QUESTIONS

Listen to the interview and choose the best answer to each question you hear.

Q1. What are some of the main symptoms experienced by typical Long COVID patients, according to Dr. Jamie Rylance?

A. Difficulty in walking and hearing loss.

B. Fatigue, brain fog, and shortness of breath.

C. High fever and loss of appetite.

D. Muscle aches and joint pain.

Q2. What does Dr. Rylance say about the underlying causes of Long COVID?

A. They are well understood and have a single cause.

B. They are primarily linked to pre-existing health conditions.

C. They are related to the severity of the initial COVID infection.

D. They are varied and include many different abnormalities.

Q3. What is the role of vaccination in relation to Long COVID, as discussed by Dr. Rylance?

A. It increases the risk of developing Long COVID.

B. It has no effect on the likelihood of experiencing Long COVID.

C. It protects against severe COVID disease and Long COVID.

D. It is ineffective once Long COVID symptoms have already begun.

Q4. What can be inferred about the global impact of Long COVID and the need for healthcare recognition and support?

A. Long COVID is a localized issue that requires specialized treatment centers.

B. Long COVID is a widespread problem affecting diverse populations.

C. Long COVID symptoms are universally recognized and treated the same way worldwide.

D. Long COVID is not a significant concern for healthcare systems.

Q5. What is the main idea of Dr. Rylance’s discussion on the challenges and support needed for managing Long COVID?

A. The key is to raise awareness and ensure patients feel recognized and supported.

B. The main focus should be on rehabilitation and improving quality of life.

C. The primary challenge is developing a specific medical treatment for Long COVID.

D. The most important aspect is to conduct more clinical trials for new treatments.

Part II. TRANSCRIPT

WHO’s Science in 5: What Is Long COVID?

Vismita Gupta-Smith:

If you have recovered from COVID but still have some symptoms, could that be Long COVID? How long do these symptoms last? Is there treatment available? Here to talk about Long COVID today is Dr. Jamie Rylance. Welcome, Jamie. Jamie, talk to us about Long COVID. How does it affect people?

Dr. Jamie Rylance:

Yeah. Thanks, Vismita, pleasure to be here. So Long COVID can happen to anybody after their acute illness. It can come on as a continuation of symptoms or new symptoms and it can last a long time. The problem is, the symptoms are very variable. Patients may have difficulty recognizing that they have it and healthcare workers, to be honest, can also struggle to identify it. (Q1) But if you’re a typical Long COVID patient, you might have fatigue, feeling tired all the time brain fog, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, shortness of breath. Those are the main symptoms, but there are so many others. One of the problems is that those symptoms can also represent other medical illnesses. So it’s really important to get the diagnosis right and healthcare workers and patients need to work together to do that. So when scientists have looked for what are the underlying causes of Long COVID, there’s many different abnormalities that have been seen. (Q2) Things like very small blood clots or altered immune cell responses, abnormal triggering or responses within the nervous system or changes in the usual bugs, the microbiome that we usually carry around with us. And that being so many different possibilities, there’s no single one diagnostic test. That said, we need to get patients onto treatment. We focus on the things that are bothering them, the symptoms, and making sure their function comes back to normal.

diagnosis n. 诊断；（问题原因的）判断

blood clot 血凝块；血块

Vismita Gupta-Smith:

Jamie, do people experience Long COVID differently? Are symptoms different and why?

Dr. Jamie Rylance:

Well, the obvious thing is no two people are the same and it can be very different. That said, we do know some things that might predict whether you’re more at risk of having Long COVID or for how long the symptoms might last for.

Vismita Gupta-Smith:

Jamie, talk to us about vaccination.

Dr. Jamie Rylance:

(Q3) So vaccination does help. It protects you against severe COVID disease and it protects you against Long COVID. At the other end of the spectrum, people who’ve had particularly severe disease are more likely to have Long COVID and the symptoms are likely to last longer. And that’s people who have been admitted to hospital or particularly to Intensive Care Unit. But we know that, the health of people before COVID is really important as well. So long-standing or pre-existing health problems. Respiratory disease, mental health problems but many others can increase the risk that you suffer long COVID. And therefore, it’s really important to try and keep and maintain a healthy lifestyle as much as possible. (Q4) So we know that Long COVID is a global problem. It can occur to anyone, anywhere in the world. What we need is for primary healthcare professionals to be able to recognize, assess and treat patients with Long COVID. And the way people access their healthcare will vary around the world. Sometimes there may be specialty services for COVID, sometimes there may be specialist doctors. But very frequently, and particularly where resources are limited, there are not. And so it’s really important that we empower primary healthcare providers to give patient centred care close to home. And that’s what we’re doing at WHO, making guidance to help healthcare workers deliver high-quality care and the education materials to support them to do so.

respiratory adj. 呼吸的

Vismita Gupta-Smith:

So Jamie, how long do the symptoms last and even though we don’t have a pill, per se, how can we help people who are suffering from Long COVID?

Dr. Jamie Rylance:

Well, the first thing is that most people recover fully and that can take months and of course some people we know are badly affected for years. Although there isn’t a specific medical treatment, what we really need to do is access and treat patients for the problems that they have. Often that’s associated with rehabilitation, getting people back to functional status to enjoy life and health. There are specific medical treatments for some people and overall, that goes a long way to helping increase quality of life. So I’m optimistic in the science delivering more treatments and that’s hundreds of clinical trials going on at present. And I’d encourage people to get involved where they feel able and where they’re offered. So there’s hope, I think, in terms of new treatments. (Q5) But apart from the medical treatment, I think the biggest obstacle that people with Long COVID feel at the moment is that their disease is not recognized. They’re told that their brain fog or other symptoms are not real, and that’s demoralizing. So what they need is kindness and support through their treatment. And that comes from their family, their friends, their employers, because it’s in everyone’s best interest that people with Long COVID don’t feel alone and feel that they’re supported throughout their recovery.

demoralizing adj. 使丧失信心的，令人泄气的

Vismita Gupta-Smith:

Thank you, Jamie. That was Science in 5 today. Until next time then, stay safe, stay health and stick with science.

Part III. KEY

Q1. B. 细节题。根据文本中的描述：“But if you’re a typical Long COVID patient, you might have fatigue, feeling tired all the time brain fog, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, shortness of breath.”可知，典型的长新冠患者可能会经历疲劳、脑雾、难以集中注意力、睡眠困难和呼吸急促等症状。因此答案为B。

Q2. D. 细节题。文本中提到：“there’s no single one diagnostic test.” 以及 “Things like very small blood clots or altered immune cell responses, abnormal triggering or responses within the nervous system or changes in the usual bugs, the microbiome that we usually carry around with us.” 这表明长新冠没有单一的诊断测试，造成它的的潜在原因多种多样，包括许多不同的异常情况，如微小的血凝块、免疫细胞反应改变、神经系统的异常触发或反应以及体内微生物群的变化等。因此答案为D。

Q3. C. 细节题。根据文本中的信息：“So vaccination does help. It protects you against severe COVID disease and it protects you against Long COVID." 可知，疫苗接种有助于预防重症COVID疾病和长新冠。因此答案为C。

Q4. B. 推理题。文本中提到：“So we know that Long COVID is a global problem. It can occur to anyone, anywhere in the world. What we need is for primary healthcare professionals to be able to recognize, assess and treat patients with Long COVID”这表明长新冠是一个全球性问题，可以影响世界上任何人，需要基层医疗保健专业人员能够识别、评估和治疗长新冠患者。答案为B。

Q5. A. 主旨题。在讨论长新冠的挑战和所需支持时，Dr. Rylance提到：“The biggest obstacle that people with Long COVID feel at the moment is that their disease is not recognized.”以及 “what they need is kindness and support through their treatment.” 这表明，长新冠患者面临的主要挑战是他们的疾病没有得到认可，他们需要的是在治疗过程中的善意和支持。因此答案为A。

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